Jailed crypto founder Sam Bankman-Fried seeks Trump pardon
Article excerpt
Sam Bankman-Fried, the imprisoned founder of collapsed crypto exchange FTX serving a 25-year sentence, filed an official pardon application on Monday. The move comes as president-elect Trump, who has signaled openness to cryptocurrency and has been in contact with crypto industry figures, prepares to take office. Bankman-Fried was convicted of fraud and conspiracy in connection with FTX's spectacular collapse in 2022, which wiped out billions in customer funds. The pardon application represents a long-shot legal strategy for the 32-year-old, though Trump's crypto-friendly stance and history of issuing controversial pardons has given some observers reason to view it as worth pursuing.
(Photos: Richard Drew and Bebeto Matthews for AP)
Controversial lawyer Michael Avenatti slammed his prison bunkmate Sam Bankman-Fried on Monday, with Avenatti saying the crypto swindler does not deserve a presidential pardon because he has not accepted responsibility for his crimes.
Avenatti went off on SBF on X.
The ex-attorney for porn actress Stormy Daniels said he argued with Bankman-Fried about his financial crimes on multiple occasions, and that SBF refused “to accept ANY responsibility for what he did.” Avenatti said SBF never admitted he screwed his customers, either.
He posted:
Sam Bankman-Fried and I were prison bunkmates and I know him well. So I read this with more context than most. Sam and I argued more than once about the same thing: his refusal to accept ANY responsibility for what he did.
Not once did he admit he’d done anything wrong, even after I told him repeatedly he could never begin to redeem himself without that acknowledgment. You don’t earn a pardon when you can’t admit, even to yourself, that you did wrong.
Avenatti’s post came shortly after Bankman-Fried told Fox Business he would “absolutely” love a pardon from President Donald Trump.
“It would be obviously, you know, ultimately up to the president, not up to me,” Bankman-Fried added.
He is currently serving 25 years in prison for ripping off $8 billion worth of cryptocurrency from his FTX customers. He was convicted in 2022.
That same year, Avenatti was convicted of cheating millions of dollars out of clients. He was ordered to pay back $7 million and sentenced to 14 years in prison (which was later reduced to about 11 years).
“I am deeply remorseful and contrite,” Avenatti said at the time. “There is no doubt that all of them deserve much better, and I hope that someday they will accept my apologies and find it in their heart to forgive me.”
Avenatti was also convicted for embezzling about $300,000 from Daniels in 2022. He was moved from federal prison to a halfway house in April; he is expected to be released in 2028.
The post Michael Avenatti Scolds Sam Bankman-Fried for His ‘Refusal to Accept ANY Responsibility’ as He Pushes for a Trump Pardon (Yes, Really) first appeared on Mediaite.