SBF Gives Up on New Trial for Now, Says He Won’t Get Fair Hearing From Judge

TLDR

• Sam Bankman-Fried has withdrawn his Rule 33 motion for a new trial
• He cited a lack of confidence in getting a “fair hearing” from Judge Lewis Kaplan
• SBF claimed he wrote the motion himself in prison, consulting only his parents
• He still has a pending appeal of his conviction and sentence in a federal appeals court
• His request for a presidential pardon from Trump remains unresolved; Trump said in January he has no plans to grant one

Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of collapsed crypto exchange FTX, has withdrawn his motion for a new trial. He filed a letter on Wednesday in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.

In the letter, Bankman-Fried said he does not believe he will get a “fair hearing” from Judge Lewis Kaplan on the matter. He withdrew the motion without prejudice, meaning he can refile it later.

The withdrawal came after Judge Kaplan asked Bankman-Fried to clarify whether a lawyer helped him write the filing. The motion in question is known as a Rule 33 motion, which asks a court to grant a new trial.

Bankman-Fried said he conceived the motion, drafted it, and did most of the legal research himself while incarcerated in Brooklyn. He said he did not consult his attorney on it.

He did share drafts with his parents, Barbara and Joseph Bankman-Fried. His mother had previously sent a letter to the court on his behalf, though she had no legal standing to do so.

In February, Bankman-Fried had asked for a different judge to rule on the new trial motion. He claimed Kaplan showed “extreme prejudice” against him during the proceedings.

His Conviction and Sentence

Bankman-Fried was found guilty in November 2023 on all seven counts of fraud. The charges related to the misuse of customer funds at FTX, once one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world.

He was sentenced to 25 years in prison and is currently held at the Federal Correctional Institution, Lompoc I, in California.

Appeals and Pardon Efforts

Bankman-Fried still has a live appeal of his conviction and sentence pending in the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. His withdrawal of the Rule 33 motion does not affect that appeal.

He has also publicly sought a presidential pardon from Donald Trump. On social media, he praised Trump’s crypto policies and military actions.

However, Trump stated in a January interview with the New York Times that he has no intention of pardoning Bankman-Fried.

The request for a new judge on the reassignment issue also remains pending. As of Wednesday, Bankman-Fried said he will wait for his direct appeal to be resolved before considering refiling the new trial motion.

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