Sam Bankman-Fried’s Parents Pursue Pardon from Donald Trump

KeyTakeaways:

• Bankman-Fried’s mother and father meet with Trump allies to debate securing a pardon.
• Regardless of the authorized attraction, Bankman-Fried lacks the assist seen in earlier clemency instances.
• Authorized neighborhood studies a surge of pardon inquiries from white-collar defendants.

The mother and father of Sam Bankman-Fried, the co-founder of the now-collapsed cryptocurrency trade FTX, are reportedly exploring the potential of securing a pardon for his or her son. 

Based on a Bloomberg report, Joseph Bankman and Stanford Regulation College professor Barbara Fried just lately met with people related to President Donald Trump to debate the matter. 

This comes after Trump granted clemency to people corresponding to former Silk Street founder Ross Ulbricht, who was serving a life sentence for severe crimes. Nonetheless, Bankman-Fried lacks the identical degree of public assist Ulbricht obtained, and the specifics of any outreach to the White Home stay unclear.

Bankman-Fried’s Authorized State of affairs and Attraction Course of

Bankman-Fried’s authorized workforce has additionally appealed in opposition to his 2023 conviction, arguing that his sentence was excessively harsh, contemplating the recovery of most of FTX’s customer funds. 

Regardless of this, his path to clemency stays unsure, and lots of imagine that his case lacks the identical groundswell of assist that led to Ulbricht’s pardon. Moreover, Ryan Salame, a former FTX govt sentenced to greater than seven years in jail, additionally intends to hunt a pardon.

The development of searching for pardons from Trump continues to develop. Authorized consultants report receiving excessive inquiries from defendants in related conditions. Sam Mangel, a white-collar jail marketing consultant who has labored on clemency requests for high-profile shoppers, indicated that Trump’s swift pardon actions have led to a broader curiosity from each these already imprisoned and people awaiting sentencing. 

Nonetheless, some consultants, corresponding to Jeffrey Grant, warning in opposition to prioritizing people with influential connections over these in jail for longer intervals with out such connections.

Similarities Between Bankman-Fried and Trump

Bankman-Fried’s state of affairs is much like Trump’s authorized battles. Each have accused U.S. District Choose Lewis A. Kaplan, who oversaw Bankman-Fried’s trial, of being unfair to them. 

Trump’s authorized workforce has additionally been within the highlight over high-profile defamation and assault lawsuits, and his historical past with clemency grants has added one other layer of complexity to the Bankman-Fried case.