Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried denied sentencing extension

The former executive was denied a sentencing extension on Wednesday

article-image

FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried | Getty modified by Blockworks

share

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried isn’t getting a sentencing extension for the holidays, Judge Lewis Kaplan ruled on Wednesday.

Counsel for Bankman-Fried filed a letter early Wednesday seeking a “short four to six-week adjournment of the sentencing hearing in the above-captioned case.”

Sentencing for Bankman-Fried, who was found guilty on seven charges back in November, is scheduled for March 28. He faces a maximum sentence of 110 years in prison.

Bankman-Fried’s lawyers argued that they needed “additional time to collect materials necessary for the sentencing submission and to prepare for the presentence interview.” It also sought to utilize the extra time to prepare for the government to possibly proceed with another set of charges, which they dropped from the initial trial.

The second trial is currently set for March 11, if the government chooses to proceed with the counts. Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to the charges, which allege that Bankman-Fried gave around $100 million to politicians.

Read more: How long could Bankman-Fried go to jail following trial? 

US Attorney General Damian Williams proceeded with the superseding indictment after the government initially dropped the charges after the Bahamas didn’t extradite Bankman-Fried on the charge.

Williams reiterated in August that “Mr. Bankman-Fried remains charged with conducting an illegal campaign finance scheme.”

“We submit that Mr. Bankman-Fried should not begin the sentencing process on the counts of conviction, including the presentence interview, until the severed counts are resolved,” the lawyers said.

Bankman-Fried is scheduled for a presentence interview on Thursday.

Kaplan denied the motion saying that the sentencing date was decided without objection from Bankman-Fried’s team, and the “defendant has had over six weeks in which to prepare for the presentence interview, which shall take place tomorrow as scheduled.”

Bankman-Fried’s landmark trial took place in New York last month. Jurors, days before the year anniversary of the FTX collapse, found the former CEO guilty after a month-long trial.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

Blockworks and Cracked Labs are teaming up for the third installment of the Permissionless Hackathon, happening June 22–23, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY. This is a 36-hour IRL builder sprint where developers, designers, and creatives ship real projects solving real problems across […]

recent research

Featured.png

Research

Helium stands at a pivotal moment in its evolution as a decentralized wireless network, balancing rapid growth, economic restructuring, and global expansion. With accelerated growth in domestic DAUs and Hotspots supporting its network, Helium is leveraging strategic partnerships and innovative proposals to scale internationally. The recent implementation of HIP 138, “Return to HNT,” has unified its token economy under HNT, simplifying participation and strengthening liquidity, while HIP 139’s phase-out of CBRS refocuses efforts on scalable Wi-Fi offload. Meanwhile, governance shifts under HIP 141 raise questions about centralization as Nova Labs consolidates control over the roadmap.

article-image

In 2011, WikiLeaks faced a financial blockade imposed by the US government. It was Bitcoin’s first major test.

article-image

Kado’s founder Emery Andrew spoke to Blockworks about the acquisition and what’s next for the team

article-image

LayerZero’s Bryan Pellegrino chatted with Blockworks about the firm’s next steps and its 10-year runway

article-image

Colosseum co-founder Matty Taylor is seeing “high-performance [Solana] founders showing a lot of interest in private trading technology”

article-image

Executives weigh the growth potential they see in the public stock and private credit/equities arenas

article-image

Players can stake ME, trade tokens and link wallets to climb the leaderboard