4 takeaways from Sam Bankman-Fried’s sentencing

Sam Bankman-Fried on Thursday was sentenced to 25 years in prison, a year and a half after his crypto startup, FTX, imploded practically overnight and set off a massive a federal investigation.

Sam Bankman-Fried on Thursday was sentenced to 25 years in prison, a year and a half after his crypto startup, FTX, imploded practically overnight and set off a massive a federal investigation. The outcome was not a huge surprise — a prison sentence was all but guaranteed after a jury found Bankman-Fried guilty on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy in November. The only unknown going into court this morning was just how long his sentence would be, a decision that was in the hands of Judge Lewis Kaplan. Here are the key takeaways from Thursday’s hearing. Bankman-Fried’s 25-year sentence is about half of the 40 to 50 years prosecutors had sought. Judge Kaplan said he weighed a number of factors, including the brazenness of the crimes and Bankman-Fried’s potential to commit crimes in the future. There was a risk “that this man will be in a position to do something very bad in the future,” Kaplan said. “And it’s not a trivial risk.” Kaplan recommended that the Bureau of Prisons place Bankman-Fried in a medium-security or lower facility, ideally in the San Francisco area so that his family may visit.