A second trial of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried on expenses not within the cryptocurrency fraud case offered to a jury that convicted him in November will not be essential, prosecutors informed a choose Friday.
Prosecutors informed U.S. District Choose Lewis A. Kaplan in a letter that proof at a second trial would duplicate proof already proven to a jury. Additionally they stated it might ignore the “sturdy public curiosity in a immediate decision” of the case, significantly as a result of victims wouldn’t profit from forfeiture or restitution orders if sentencing is delayed.
They stated the choose can think about the proof that will be used at a second trial when he sentences Bankman-Fried on March 28 for defrauding prospects and traders of not less than $10 billion.
Bankman-Fried, 31, who has been incarcerated since a number of weeks earlier than his trial, was convicted in early November of seven counts, together with wire fraud, wire fraud conspiracy and three conspiracy expenses. He might face a long time in jail.
Final spring, prosecutors withdrew some expenses they’d introduced in opposition to Bankman-Fried as a result of the costs had not been accredited as a part of his extradition from the Bahamas in December 2022. They stated the costs might be introduced at a second trial to happen someday in 2024.
Nonetheless, prosecutors on the time stated that they’d nonetheless current proof to the jury on the 2023 trial concerning the substance of the costs.
The fees that have been briefly dropped included conspiracy to make illegal marketing campaign contributions, conspiracy to bribe international officers and two different conspiracy counts. He additionally was charged with securities fraud and commodities fraud.
Of their letter to Kaplan, prosecutors famous that they launched proof about the entire dropped expenses throughout Bankman-Fried’s monthlong trial.
They stated authorities within the Bahamas nonetheless haven’t responded to their request to deliver the extra expenses at a second trial.
A conviction on the extra expenses wouldn’t lead to a possible for an extended jail sentence for Bankman-Fried, prosecutors stated.
“Continuing with sentencing in March 2024 with out the delay that will be attributable to a second trial would advance the general public’s curiosity in a well timed and simply decision of the case,” prosecutors wrote. “The curiosity in avoiding delay weighs significantly closely right here, the place the judgment will possible embody orders of forfeiture and restitution for the victims of the defendant’s crimes.”
When reached by CBS Information, attorneys for Bankman-Fried declined to remark, as did the U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace for the Southern District of New York.
