Former FTX executive Ryan Salame's prison sentence reduced by 1 year
Former FTX executive Ryan Salame's prison sentence reduced by 1 year
Ryan Salame, the former co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets, has had his prison sentence reduced by one year, with his new release date set for March 2031.
This development, reported in Bureau of Prison records, follows Salame’s guilty plea in September 2023 to charges of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business and engaging in campaign finance fraud.
Salame was sentenced in May 2024 to 7.5 years in prison, with his original release date projected for April 2032. The sentence followed FTX’s catastrophic collapse, which caused massive financial losses and led to widespread investigations into the crypto exchange's leadership. Despite his attorneys arguing for a shorter sentence—citing Salame’s claimed lack of awareness of the fraud and his substantial asset forfeitures—Judge Lewis A. Kaplan imposed a 90-month term, citing the severity of the case.
Attempts by Salame to void his guilty plea and delay incarceration were unsuccessful. He argued that federal prosecutors had implied they would cease investigating his partner, Michelle Bond, for campaign finance violations as part of his plea agreement. However, authorities reportedly continued their investigation into Bond, a factor Salame claimed invalidated the agreement.
Other sentencing developments
In a related development, Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research and a key figure in the FTX saga, also saw her sentence reduced by three months. The reasons for the reductions in both Salame’s and Ellison’s sentences remain unclear.
The reductions in sentencing for key figures associated with FTX highlight the complexities of ongoing legal proceedings surrounding the platform’s collapse. As investigations continue, these cases are a stark reminder of the legal and financial ramifications of mismanagement in the cryptocurrency sector.
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