US appellate court mandate affirms Sam Bankman-Fried conviction
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- Second Circuit filed a formal mandate on Tuesday following its June 12 ruling, affirming Bankman-Fried's conviction on seven felony counts and his 25-year federal prison sentence.
- Three circuit judges disputed Bankman-Fried's claim that FTX had sufficient liquidity to make investors whole and spare them any losses.
- Circuit Judge Barrington D. Parker wrote that an intent to eventually repay customers is "legally misleading and prejudicial" because the wire fraud statute covers temporary misappropriation, ruling FTX customers were defrauded the moment Bankman-Fried moved their money to Alameda.
- The appellate court upheld a New York court's $11 billion forfeiture order tied to the criminal case.
- Bankman-Fried's remaining routes to early release are narrow: a pardon from President Donald Trump or a Supreme Court appeal.
- Trump said in January he had no plans to issue a pardon, and the US Senate last month unanimously adopted a resolution opposing clemency for the former FTX CEO.
Why it matters: The formal mandate converts the June ruling into a binding, enforceable outcome, leaving SBF's 25-year sentence and $11 billion forfeiture effectively locked in. With Trump already declining to pardon and the Senate unanimously opposing clemency, the only remaining legal door is a Supreme Court appeal — and the court's rejection of SBF's "investors would've been made whole" argument forecloses his strongest appellate theory.
