Sam Bankman-Fried Should Spend 40-50 Years in Prison, DOJ Says

Prosecutors recommended that a federal judge sentence FTX founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried to at least 40 and as many as 50 years in prison for his conviction on fraud and conspiracy charges tied to the collapse of what was once one of the world's largest crypto exchanges.

In a sentencing memo filed Friday, the Department of Justice's Southern District of New York office wrote that Bankman-Fried "lied to investors," shared fake documents and "pumped millions of dollars in illegal donations into our political system," adding that a sentence of 40 to 50 years is "necessary," alongside a recommended money judgement north of $11 billion and forfeiture.

"The unprecedented scope of the fraud at FTX may also be measured in the number and types of victims, in the fraud’s geographic reach, and in the breadth and frequency of the unlawful and unethical acts undertaken by the defendant in service of a scheme to use other people’s money for his own benefit and influence," prosecutors wrote.

Bankman-Fried was convicted on seven different counts of fraud and conspiracy last November after a monthlong trial tied to the operation and collapse of FTX and Alameda Research, two companies he founded. He's scheduled to be sentenced on March 28.

His defense team urged a 6-year sentence in a memo last month, which the prosecution called "woefully inadequate" in Friday's filing.