Earlier this week, disgraced crypto CEO Sam Bankman-Fried tried to get his 40-to-50-year prison sentence cut down to just 6.5 years ahead of his sentencing on March 28.

The original proposal to lock the 32-year-old away for likely the rest of his life "distorts reality," he argued, painting him as a "depraved super-villain."

In documents submitted to the court, Bankman-Fried's claimed that the "loss" and "harm" to his customers is "zero" — claims that were met with raised eyebrows, since the millennial's FTX crypto exchange collapsed into rubble 2022.

Take his successor, FTX CEO John Ray, who couldn't disagree more. In a letter to the judge, shared by Ars Technica, Ray argued that Bankman-Fried made "demonstrably false" assertions and "continues to live a life of delusion."

"Bankman-Fried was willing to consider any narrative, including wildly conflicting narratives, that could potentially save him from this day of reckoning," he wrote.

Ray's comments make clear the degree to which the crypto exchange is actively trying to distance itself from Bankman-Fried. Under his leadership, the company dissolved into a drawn-out trial that shook the entire industry.

Documents shown in court indicated that the former CEO and his collaborators stole billions of dollars from the exchange's users and mishandled funds with no apparent sense of care.

Roughly a year after FTX's collapse, the 32-year-old was found guilty on all seven counts he was charged with, including wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

The massive shakeup left the exchange in pieces, with billions of assets that had to be somehow handed back to investors. Ray, a veteran Wall Street bankruptcy lawyer, was quickly appointed CEO to guide the company's Chapter 11 process.

Ray also oversaw the messy bankruptcy proceedings of collapsed energy giant Enron in the early 2000s.

In January, negotiations to get FTX back online, with potential bidders and investors balking at putting in enough funds to rebuild it.

Regardless of whether the exchange has any future, defense attorneys are pushing for investors to be fully compensated.

In his letter this week, Ray argued that Bankman-Fried is still culpable, even though many of the "things that he stole" were later recovered.

"And there are plenty of things we did not get back, like the bribes to Chinese officials or the hundreds of millions of dollars he spent to buy access to or time with celebrities or politicians or investments for which he grossly overpaid having done zero diligence," the CEO wrote in his scathing letter. "The harm was vast. The remorse is nonexistent."

Worse yet, customers are ticked off now that Bitcoin has crushed all-time records this month. They don't want cash, as Axios points out — they want their coins, which have risen considerably in value since FTX's collapse.

"They believe they should receive something closer to today's value," Ray wrote.

Only time will tell how the judge will rule next week. But considering the sheer amount of evidence stacked against Bankman-Fried, it's unlikely he'll get off lightly.

More on Bankman-Fried: Photo Shows Sam Bankman-Fried in Jail With Former Bloods Gang Member


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