U.S. prosecutors are seeking a five to seven-year prison sentence for former FTX executive Ryan Salame, who was allegedly a key accomplice to FTX co-founder Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried, in connection with the collapse of the FTX crypto exchange.
On May 21, federal prosecutors submitted a sentencing memo to a Manhattan federal court, calling for a strict sentence for Salame, who has pleaded guilty to serious crimes related to the misuse of FTX investors’ funds.
According to a court filing viewed by Bloomberg, the prosecutors are advocating for a “just punishment” that reflects the severity of Salame’s crimes, contrary to his lawyers’ recommendation of no more than 18 months in prison.
“The campaign finance offense is one of the largest-ever in American history, and the unlicensed money transmitting business exchanged more than $1 billion without proper supervision,” said the prosecutors.
Salame’s sentencing, for aiding SBF in misappropriating $10 billion of users’ funds, is scheduled for May 28.
The prosecutors emphasized, “Only a meaningful period of incarceration could adequately deter the defendant and others and promote respect for the law.”
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On April 1, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York sentenced SBF to 25 years in prison after he was convicted on seven felony charges.
Salame is set to be the first of SBF’s accomplices to be sentenced.
Salame joined Alameda Research in Hong Kong in 2019 and eventually became the CEO of FTX Digital Markets, the Bahamas-based subsidiary of FTX.
Other notable figures involved in the FTX scheme, including Caroline Ellison, Nishad Singh, and Gary Wang, have yet to be sentenced.
Meanwhile, several U.S. lawmakers are backing a bill intended to clarify the roles of financial regulators in the oversight of digital assets, aiming to prevent future incidents similar to FTX.
North Carolina Representative Wiley Nickel has called for the passage of the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century (FIT21) Act, which would define how the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission regulate cryptocurrencies.
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