U.S. prosecutors sought “fair punishment” commensurate with the gravity of Salame’s conduct, but his legal team maintains that his sentence should be no longer than 18 months.
U.S. prosecutors are seeking a sentence of five to seven years in prison for offenses that had a role in the demise of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange from ex-executive Ryan Salame. Salame is said to have been a wingman of FTX co-founder “SBF“.
Salame pled guilty on May 21 to “severe crimes” related to the misappropriation of cash from FXT investors, and federal prosecutors demanded a harsh sentence in a Manhattan federal court sentencing document.
Bloomberg has seen a court document in which U.S. prosecutors asked for “fair punishment” commensurate with the gravity of Salame’s act, while his attorneys have argued that his sentence should be no longer than 18 months.
The state’s attorneys stated: “The illegal money transferring firm moved more than $1 billion without appropriate oversight, and the campaign finance infraction is one of the largest-ever in American history.”
On May 28, the court will sentence Salame for his role in SBF’s theft of $10 billion from consumers’ accounts. Further, the prosecution said, “Only a significant time of jail could sufficiently discourage the defendant and others and encourage respect for the law.”
The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York handed down a 25-year jail term to SBF on April 1, after his conviction on seven felony offenses. Salame is going to be the first of SBF’s accomplices to face sentencing.
In 2019, Salame began his career in Hong Kong at Alameda Research. He subsequently rose through the ranks to become the chief executive officer of FTX Digital Markets, a Bahamian subsidiary of FTX.
Gary Wang, Caroline Ellison, and Nishad Singh are three more high-profile FTX scammers who have not yet received sentencing.
Rep. Wiley Nickel of North Carolina is one of many US politicians who have voiced their support for a measure that will “avoid the next FTX” by making the responsibilities of the federal government’s financial regulators more transparent in relation to digital assets.
In order to define the role of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in crypto regulation, Nickel urged legislators to support the FIT21 Act.
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