The attorneys representing Salame have informed the court that their client was not involved in the inner circle of FTX led by convicted Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF).
As the United States government attempts to close the FTX case amicably, a former top executive of the fallen cryptocurrency exchange Ryan Salame, who pleaded guilty last year, is requesting for court leniency. According to a sentencing memorandum filed on Tuesday, attorneys representing Salame are pushing to get leniency of 18 months imprisonment.
Notably, Salame was involved in wire deposits and fiat currency conversions on the distressed cryptocurrency exchange. In addition, Salame was also part of the FTX team that enabled political contributions and charitable contributions using Alameda Research funds.
Consequently, Salame is facing two major charges including conspiracy to make unlawful political contributions and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business.
However, Salame and his attorneys are seeking lesser penalties after cooperating with the US government to nail SBF.
What’s Next for Former FTX Top Executives
As Coinspeaker previously reported, the fate of the former FTX-top executives who pleaded guilty remains unknown after SBF was recently sentenced to a 25-year imprisonment.
“He had no knowledge that the four people at the center of Alameda and FTX had conspired to lie and steal from their customers. Ryan stole from no one. He did not lie to customers. He was duped. When he finally understood the FTX fraud, he was the first person to blow the whistle to authorities in The Bahamas,” Salame’s attorneys wrote in a court filing.
According to a prior court document, Salame is expected to forfeit all properties attained during his tenure at FTX, which could be as much as $1.5 billion. However, as part of the plea deal, Salame agreed to hand over $6 million before the scheduled sentencing. In addition, the US government took over several properties including a 2021 Porsche automobile, two Massachusetts homes, and the East Rood Farm Corporation.
If the court were to follow the laid out sentencing guidelines, Salame would be facing up to 10 years in prison. However, the sentencing is much likely to be lower, since Salame has been working with the federal government to nab SBF.
Bigger Picture
The sentencing of former FTX officials will offer some relief to the affected individuals for suffering financially and mentally in the past year. Nonetheless, the current FTX officials are working on refunding the impacted customers fully.
Moreover, the FTX estate has been auctioning its locked Solana (SOL) assets to fund managers led by Pantera Capital. Ultimately, the closer of the FTX case will be a huge example to other cryptocurrency exchanges operating in the market.
More global governments, led by the European Union, have been enacting clear crypto and Web3 regulations. The high demand for digital assets by institutional investors has compelled regulators to act fast and avoid a similar FTX case in the coming years.
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