A federal judge sentenced former FTX Digital Markets co-CEO Ryan Salama to 7.5 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to two criminal charges.
At a May 28 hearing in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Judge Lewis Kaplan ordered Salama to serve 7.5 years in prison for conspiracy to operate a wire transfer business. unlicensed money and campaign finance fraud. The former FTX executive pleaded guilty to the charges in September 2023 and was awaiting sentencing.
Salama reported FTX’s fraudulent activities to the Bahamas Securities Commission on November 9, 2022 – just two days before Sam Bankman-Fried resigned as CEO and the company filed for bankruptcy. Bankman-Fried was later extradited from the Bahamas to the United States and convicted on seven counts. In March, Judge Kaplan sentenced him to 25 years in prison.
Prosecutors recommended that Salama be jailed for up to seven years for his role in the misuse of FTX user funds and fraud related to contributions to his girlfriend Michelle Bond’s congressional bid. His lawyers said an 18-month sentence was appropriate because he was “the lowest rung in the conspiracies he admitted to” and was unlikely to commit similar crimes.
The former FTX executive was the second figure linked to FTX and Alameda Research to be sentenced after Bankman-Fried. Former Alameda CEO Carolyn Ellison, former FTX chief engineering officer Nishad Singh, and FTX co-founder Gary Wang pleaded guilty to the charges and testified at Bankman’s criminal trial- Fried. As of press time, it was unclear when their sentencing hearings would take place.
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Salama has been largely free to travel since pleading guilty and being released on $1 million bail. As part of his plea deal with prosecutors, he will have to pay nearly $6 million in fines to the U.S. government, $6 million to FTX’s debtors, and return two properties and a business.
During the forfeiture proceedings, Salama’s lawyers claimed that he would have “no remaining assets” once his net worth reached millions in 2022. A May 27 court filing showed that Salama could keep the ownership of the 2021 Porsche because it “does not have sufficient ownership rights.” “. To follow up on the confiscation.
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This is a developing story, and more information will be added as it becomes available.
