FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried faces a maximum possible sentence of 110 years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines for the massive fraud conspiracy that led to the collapse of his cryptocurrency exchange and a related hedge fund, a judge ruled Thursday.
Judge Lewis Kaplan increased the sentencing guidelines range for Bankman-Fried after finding that he had perjured himself at his trial.
Kaplan, who will sentence SBF later Thursday in Manhattan federal court, is not bound to give him that much time. But the ruling underscores the risk that Bankman-Fried will spend decades in jail.
After Kaplan ruled on the guideline enhancement, a victim of Bankman-Fried’s began talking about the effects of his crimes.
Federal prosecutors want Bankman-Fried sentenced to between 40 to 50 years in prison. His defense team asked Kaplan to sentence him to much less than that, between five and six-a-half years behind bars.
Kaplan presided over the trial, which ended in November when a jury found Bankman-Fried, 32, guilty of seven counts and held him responsible for the roughly $10 billion of customer deposits that went missing in 2022.
The charges included wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud against FTX customers and against lenders to sister hedge fund Alameda Research; conspiracy to commit securities fraud and conspiracy to commit commodities fraud against FTX investors; and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Bankman-Fried’s parents, Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, are in the courtroom for the sentencing hearing.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams has said Bankman-Fried was the mastermind of “one of the biggest financial frauds in American history.”
Jurors reached their verdict after only about three hours of deliberations. For a high-profile monthlong trial that involved nearly 20 witnesses and hundreds of exhibits, experts told CNBC they’d never seen such a speedy decision.
Bankman-Fried plans to appeal his conviction and sentence.
It was a steep and swift fall from grace for Bankman-Fried, who was once hailed as a titan in the industry and grew his crypto empire — on paper — to a $32 billion valuation.
WATCH: The collapse of FTX: Insiders Tell All
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