Judge Denies Sam Bankman-Fried’s Request for Adjournment of Sentencing Hearing

cryptonews.com:

U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan has denied a request for adjournment made by Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of FTX. 

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried’s request for a four-to-six-week adjournment of his sentencing hearing has been denied by Judge Lewis Kaplan. The proposal, made on December 20 through a letter, sought to delay his presentencing interview scheduled for Thursday, December 21, and the sentencing hearing set for March 28, 2024.

Bankman-Fried, found guilty on seven charges in November, is scheduled for sentencing on March 28, facing a maximum sentence of 110 years in prison.

Bankman-Fried’s lawyer, Mark Cohen, argued that the defence needed more time to prepare for the presentencing interview. They also aimed to use the extra time to prepare for potential charges dropped from the initial trial, with a second trial scheduled for March 11. The defence also suggested planned disclosures for the presentence investigation report to be January 5, 2024, and February 2, 2024.

However, the government had yet to confirm whether it would proceed with a second trial on the five charges he objected to because they were not part of the original indictment leading to his extradition from the Bahamas.

The charges in the second trial allege that Bankman-Fried gave around $100 million to politicians in an illegal campaign finance scheme. The government initially dropped these charges after the Bahamas didn’t extradite Bankman-Fried on the charge. 

However, the lawyer argued that the sentencing process should begin once the dropped counts are resolved. If the trial on the severed charges occurs on March 11, 2024, Cohen suggested that combining all relevant conduct in a single sentencing hearing would be fair and efficient.

“We