Sam Bankman-Fried Finally Speaks Out After Getting Sentenced To 25-Years In Prison, Says He "Didn't Know What He Was Doing Was Illegal"
Source - Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced former crypto king who was handed a 25-year sentence for leading a massive fraud, insisted in his first interview from prison that he didn’t believe he was breaking the law — although he also admitted it wasn’t right.
“I never thought that what I was doing was illegal,” Bankman-Fried told ABC News on Sunday. “But I tried to hold myself to a high standard, and I certainly didn’t meet that standard.”
He also said from his jail cell at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn that “of course” he is remorseful after US District Judge Lewis Kaplan said during Bankman-Fried’s sentencing on Thursday that he has an “apparent lack of any real remorse.”
“I’ve heard and seen the despair, frustration and sense of betrayal from thousands of customers; they deserve to be paid in full, at current price,” Bankman-Fried told ABC.
SBF. What a guy. Gets sentenced to 25 years in prison for defrauding over one MILLION people out of eight BILLION dollars and what's the first thing he says? "I didn't know it was illegal." The same thing he's been saying since December 12th, 2022 when he was arrested in the Bahamas. In other words, "you can't charge me because I didn't know I was breaking the law." And you know what? I believe him. I genuinely think he thought he was just being a scumbag. The power that came with FTX distorted his view of reality to the point where he thought he was above the law. Fast forward a year and a half, a quarter century prison sentence, and a failed marriage and he still thinks that. How he can't see that he deserves to be in prison is beyond me...
Here's what he had to say...
“I’m haunted, every day, by what was lost,” Bankman-Fried added in his correspondence with ABC. “I never intended to hurt anyone or take anyone’s money. But I was the CEO of FTX, I was responsible for what happened to the company, and when you’re responsible it doesn’t matter why it goes bad.”
“I’d give anything to be able to help repair even part of the damage. I’m doing what I can from prison, but it’s deeply frustrating not to be able to do more.”
He also said he never got a fair trail…
Bankman-Fried also suggested that he was not given a fair trial, as he should have had the right to see the FTX documents Sullivan & Cromwell with prosecutors, according to ABC.
Bankman-Fried said his defense team plans to appeal the 25-year sentence later this year based on specifics of trial testimony that “greatly misstated what actually happened” and the fact that his defense was “not allowed to introduce crucial evidence or put on important witnesses,” he told the outlet.
Bankman-Fried had made the same argument in court, claiming that Sullivan & Cromwell, the law firm representing FTX’s new ownership, worked with prosecutors.
“At the root, SullCrom’s role in the prosecution, the one-sided media frenzy they incited, and the defense’s inability to get in critical evidence at trial, infected the whole process,” Bankman-Fried told ABC.
Which is false. Jerry Thornton broke down the entire sentencing in a blog and it's honestly fascinating…
So where do we go from here? I don't know. Hopefully this is the last time we hear about SBF until 2049 although that seems unlikely considering he could serve as little as twelve years with proper credit. Who knows. Fuck this guy. Fingers crossed he gets what he deserves while he's in there.