Source: beincrypto
Compiled by: Blockchain Knight
BeInCrypto reported earlier that the former FTX founder Sam Bankman-FRIED has been the focus of attention due to the possibility of an early release from prison.
And tweets from people like Musk suggest that this possibility is quite high.
So, what are the chances that the FTX founder will leave prison less than a year after being convicted?
In 2020, at the peak of FTX, Sam Bankman-FRIED donated $52 million to a pro-Biden super PAC. He was the second-largest individual donor to the Democratic Party, after Michael Bloomberg.
Historically, political donors and their affiliated entities have had a huge advantage when it comes to convictions and pardons.
For example, the "notorious" oil trader Marc RICH evaded taxes of at least $50 million as early as 2021. However, RICH was pardoned on the last day of Clinton's presidency.
The pardon was controversial because RICH's ex-wife Denise was a major donor to the Democratic Party. She provided substantial donations to Clinton's presidential library and the Democratic National Committee.
Similarly, Paul Pogue, another convicted tax fraudster, was pardoned by Trump in 2020. Reports indicate this was because Pogue's family donated more than $200,000 to Trump's campaign.
Kalshi, a prediction market participant, posted on X: "Sam Bankman-FRIED used stolen millions of customer funds to finance political activities."
"SBF donated almost all of his funds to the Democratic Party (98%), making him the second-largest donor to the Democrats, and now the likelihood of Biden pardoning him is 12%."
Given the historical precedents of political donors receiving more lenient treatment, the controversy over the possibility of Sam Bankman-FRIED being pardoned by Biden is understandable.
Furthermore, Biden pardoned Michael Conahan just last week.
Conahan was sentenced to 17 years in prison for a scandal involving "trading children for money." He accepted bribes from private youth detention centers in exchange for sending children to these detention centers on minor charges.
This is a concrete example of Biden potentially not shying away from pardoning serious offenders.
One of the most controversial aspects of the prosecution of Bankman-FRIED was the government's omission of charges related to campaign finance.
Initially, Bankman-FRIED faced eight criminal charges, including conspiracy to defraud the United States and violations of campaign finance laws.
However, the campaign finance charge was dropped in July 2023.
The charges against Bankman-FRIED were ultimately dropped due to a treaty obligation with the Bahamas. Essentially, the Bahamian government did not consent to the inclusion of this specific charge in the extradition request.
However, prosecutors have stated that they will pursue these charges in a separate trial.
The purpose of the second trial is to address the dropped campaign finance charges, as well as some charges related to bribery and unlicensed money transmission business operations.
However, in December 2023, prosecutors announced that they will not proceed with the second trial, as the evidence for the second trial would largely overlap with what was presented in the first trial.
Earlier this year, Sam Bankman-FRIED was sentenced to 25 years in prison for multiple counts of wire fraud and other charges.
However, many believe the sentence is too lenient given the scale and impact of his crimes.
The collapse of FTX resulted in over $16 billion in losses for customers and creditors, and the crypto winter has cost the market over $100 billion. As one of the biggest financial scandals in US history, many believe the sentencing was too lenient.
Prominent lawyer Richard W. Painter wrote: "Sam Bankman-FRIED and his accomplices hope to get pardons or commutations in exchange for the campaign contributions they stole from FTX investors. Any president who agrees to do this should be impeached for bribery."
Prosecutors initially sought a 50-year sentence, arguing that Sam Bankman-FRIED's crimes were "historic" in both scope and severity.
Prosecutors emphasized the massive economic losses suffered by FTX customers and the damage to public trust in the crypto asset market.
Additionally, Caroline Ellison, who actively withdrew customer funds from FTX and Bankman-FRIED, was sentenced to only 2 years in prison for cooperating with prosecutors.
Most surprisingly, the backdoor code writer for Alameda, Gary Wang, completely avoided incarceration.
Given these facts, and the criticism that the sentencing was too lenient, the crypto asset industry clearly anticipates that Sam Bankman-FRIED may receive leniency.
However, it should be noted that the connection between donations and pardons is not always consistent.
The president may grant a pardon for other reasons, and it is difficult to conclusively prove that donations were the sole or primary motivating factor.
But it is certain that the existence of cases where the wealthy can evade legal consequences through political donations will inevitably raise moral concerns.
