Sam Bankman-Fried's family asked for leniency from the court
Appeals were also received from the father of the head of FTX, Joseph Bankman, the brother of Gabriel Bankman-Fried, as well as associates of the former CEO. Earlier it became known that SBF lawyer Mark Mukasi requested a sentence ranging from 63 to 78 months for the defendant.
The court received 29 letters in support of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) asking for his future sentence to be commuted, including from members of his family and a cellmate. This is reported by Business Insider.
"I sincerely fear for Sam's life in a typical prison environment. His appearance and inability to read or respond adequately to many social cues, as well as his touching but naive belief in the power of facts and reason to resolve disputes, put him in extreme danger," wrote the defendant's mother, Barbara Fried.
Joseph Bankman warned that his son's "strange" social signals, which, according to lawyers, should be attributed to "neuro-worship", could be misinterpreted by other prisoners as "disrespect or lies."
"Sam is only 32 years old and his whole future lies ahead, but now he faces the prospect of spending most of the rest of his life in prison. There is a very real possibility that his father and I will not live to be released. There are no words to describe our grief," added Barbara Fried.
According to SBF's mother, her eldest son was mistakenly exposed as a "caricature villain driven by greed" who committed the "fraud of the century." In fact, Bankman-Fried devoted his life to altruism, gave up everything to help friends experiencing family tragedies, and "constantly struggled with depression," she clarified.
In SBF's personal recordings, he talked about his "unattractiveness" and quoted rap artist Macklemore:
"I don't feel pleasure. I don't feel happy. For some reason, my reward system never worked. My most significant achievements, my moments of pride come and go, but I feel nothing but a nagging hole in my brain where happiness should be."
His cellmate Carmine Simpson, a former police officer convicted of distributing child pornography, spoke out in support of Bankman-Freed. He stated that his neighbor had already been attacked and extorted.
"In any setting, Sam is the least physically intimidating person, and this is especially noticeable in prison. This state of affairs has led to the fact that he often becomes the target of hazing, harassment and attacks to a greater extent than an ordinary prisoner," Simpson wrote.
He also spoke about SBF's commitment to veganism. According to him, the former CEO of the collapsed stock exchange eats "undercooked rice, a spoonful of disgusting-looking beans and a week-old salad."
In addition, Bankman-Fried told Simpson that he started doing business for the sake of "charity" and "helping those in need." At first, the cellmate did not believe in his sincerity, but later realized his "selflessness".
On November 2, 2023, SBF was found guilty of seven counts of money laundering, fraud and conspiracy. He faces a maximum sentence of 115 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for March 28.
The FTX founder has been in a Brooklyn prison for almost four months. According to the WSJ, he lived in the same cell with former Honduran president Juan Hernandez and gave advice to supervisors about investing in cryptocurrency.
Source: https://forklog.com/news/semya-sema-benkmana-frida-poprosili-snishozhdeniya-u-suda
