Courts

Prosecutors Want To Send Sam Bankman-Fried Directly To Jail, Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Collect $200

They say it's the only way to stop the attempted witness tampering.

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Sam Bankman-Fried (Photo by Matias J. Ocner/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Prosecutors have asked Southern District of New York judge Lewis A. Kaplan to revoke the bail of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried because, well, he can’t keep his mouth shut. SBF is charged with a bunch of crimes including bribery and bank fraud conspiracy, though a campaign finance count was recently dropped. He’s pleaded not guilty to these charges.

The government believes Bankman-Fried should forfeit bail because “his pattern of circumventing his bail conditions” “demonstrate[s] that no set of pretrial release conditions” are likely to stop him from attempting to tamper with witnesses in the case against him. As reported by Law360:

[F]ederal prosecutors argue that Bankman-Fried has twice attempted to tamper with witnesses in the case — most recently when the government says he leaked his ex-girlfriend’s diary entries to The New York Times for its article “Inside the Private Writings of Caroline Ellison, Star Witness in the FTX Case” — and should have his bail revoked to prevent further tampering attempts.

In sharing Ellison’s private writings with the newspaper, prosecutors say, Bankman-Fried is “trying to intimidate and corruptly persuade” her in her upcoming trial testimony and to prevent other potential witnesses from testifying. He is also trying to influence public perception of the case, including that of prospective jurors, the letter states.

Ellison, as well as two other former FTX executives, have pleaded guilty to related crimes and are cooperating with the government.

Prosecutors write that First Amendment concerns are “a red herring.” They continue, “Witness tampering is not constitutionally protected speech.”

“The defendant’s recent communications here were not assertions of innocence, or a response to an inquiry or to a purportedly ‘toxic media environment’ as the defendant claims, but instead precisely that which has been deemed prejudicial to a fair trial: the selective sharing of a cooperating witness’s writings in an effort to discredit, intimidate, and humiliate her,” they add.

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SBF previously received a warning from Judge Kaplan for contacting witnesses. And prosecutors say Bankman-Fried has continued with improper behavior.

In their letter Thursday, prosecutors say each incident of attempted witness tampering “reinforces the defendant’s improper intent to influence potential trial testimony and intimidate witnesses,” and that the record shows Bankman-Fried “presents a risk of obstruction.”

“The bail conditions previously negotiated by the parties, while strict, have proven insufficient to the task, a fact that confirms that no combination of conditions to the defendant’s pretrial release will protect the integrity of the trial,” the government says.

When conditions were devised to limit Bankman-Fried’s use of the internet and phone, he “pivoted to in-person machinations,” including meeting with a reporter in person to show him documents, according to the letter.

The government contends the only option left is revoking the crypto founder’s bail.

Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @Kathryn1@mastodon.social.

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