US dodges delay of Sam Bankman-Fried’s sentencing by dropping second trial

Enlarge (credit: TIMOTHY A. CLARY / Contributor | AFP)

After FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried was convicted of seven charges related to wire fraud and money laundering in 2023, the US recently decided not to proceed with a second trial over additional charges in 2024.

During the second trial, Bankman-Fried could have been convicted on additional charges of conspiracy to bribe foreign officials, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business, and substantive securities fraud and commodities fraud.

However, in a letter to Judge Lewis Kaplan, US attorney Damian Williams wrote that the "strong public interest" in a prompt resolution of the FTX scandal outweighed the benefits of holding a second trial—especially since "much of the evidence that would be offered in a second trial was already offered in the first trial."