Current:Home > ScamsRyan Salame, part of the ‘inner circle’ at collapsed crypto exchange FTX, sentenced to prison -FinTechWorld
Ryan Salame, part of the ‘inner circle’ at collapsed crypto exchange FTX, sentenced to prison
View
Date:2025-04-15 04:12:59
NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday sentenced former FTX executive Ryan Salame to more than seven years in prison, the first of the lieutenants of failed cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman-Fried to receive jail time for their roles in the 2022 collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange.
Salame, 30, was a high-ranking executive at FTX for most of the exchange’s existence and, up until its collapse, was the co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets. He pleaded guilty last year to illegally making unlawful U.S. campaign contributions and to operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business.
The sentence of 7 1/2 years in prison, plus three years of supervised release, was more than the five to seven years prosecutors had asked Judge Lewis A. Kaplan to impose on Salame in their pre-sentencing memo.
While Salame was a high-level executive at FTX, he was not a major part of the government’s case against Bankman-Fried at his trial earlier this year and did not testify against him. In a bid for leniency, Salame said during the sentencing hearing that he cooperated and even provided documents that aided prosecutors in their cross examination of Bankman-Fried, as well as in his own prosecution.
Along with helping Bankman-Fried hide the holes in FTX’s balance sheet that ultimately led to the exchange’s failure, Salame was used as a conduit for Bankman-Fried to make illegal campaign contributions to help shape U.S. policy on cryptocurrencies. On the surface, Bankman-Fried mostly gave political contributions to Democrats and liberal-leaning causes, while Salame gave contributions to Republicans and right-leaning causes.
But ultimately the funds that Salame used for those contributions came from Bankman-Fried.
Kaplan said Salame “knew precisely what he was doing … and the whole idea was to hide it from the world. Astonishing!”
The judge also chastised Salame for pulling $5 million in cryptocurrencies out of FTX as the exchange was failing.
“You tried to withdraw tens of millions more,” Kaplan said. “It was me first. I’m getting in the lifeboat first. To heck with all those customers.”
Salame apologized to FTX customers and his family, saying that he and others had good intentions, though he added: “I fully understand that the means I sought to achieve these goals were illegal.”
Before he was sentenced, Salame gave brief remarks saying he was “beginning my path to redemption.”
“I accept what’s next,” he said.
Three other high-level executives at FTX are awaiting sentencing for their roles in the exchange’s collapse: Caroline Ellison, who was CEO of the FTX hedge fund Alameda Research, Gary Wang, the co-founder of FTX, and Nishad Singh, FTX’s head of engineering. All three cooperated with prosecutors and testified at trial against Bankman-Fried in exchange for potentially suspended prison sentences.
_____
Associated Press writer Larry Neumeister in New York contributed to this report.
veryGood! (1646)
Related
- At site of suspected mass killings, Syrians recall horrors, hope for answers
- Man who set off explosion at California courthouse had a criminal case there
- Nikki Garcia's Ex Artem Chigvintsev Shares His Priority After Extremely Difficult Legal Battle
- Hoda Kotb Shares Why She's Leaving Today After More a Decade
- John Galliano out at Maison Margiela, capping year of fashion designer musical chairs
- Presidents Cup TV, streaming, rosters for US vs. International tournament
- Who went home on Episode 2 of 'Survivor' Season 47? See the player who was voted out
- Suspect arrested after Tucson junior college student killed on the University of Arizona campus
- Could your smelly farts help science?
- 10 homes have collapsed into the Carolina surf. Their destruction was decades in the making
Ranking
- Newly elected West Virginia lawmaker arrested and accused of making terroristic threats
- A Black student punished for his hairstyle wants to return to the Texas school he left
- Israeli offensive in Lebanon rekindles Democratic tension in Michigan
- Artem Chigvintsev breaks silence on his arrest after prosecutors decide not to charge him
- North Carolina trustees approve Bill Belichick’s deal ahead of introductory news conference
- Wendy's is offering $1 Frostys until the end of September
- Kendall Jenner Frees the Nipple During Night Out With Gigi Hadid for Rosalía’s Birthday Party
- Santa's helpers: UPS announces over 125,000 openings in holiday hiring blitz
Recommendation
What to watch: O Jolie night
Vanessa Williams talks 'Survivor,' Miss America controversy and working with Elton John
Digging Deep to Understand Rural Opposition to Solar Power
US lawmakers’ concerns about mail ballots are fueled by other issues with mail service
Rylee Arnold Shares a Long
The Daily Money: DOJ sues Visa
Lady Gaga's Hair Transformation Will Break Your Poker Face
Man who set off explosion at California courthouse had a criminal case there