--- title: "Legal Experts Say SBF Is in Deep Trouble" description: "It's week three of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried's criminal trial, and legal experts aren't optimistic about his chances." date: "2023-10-18" modified: "2023-10-18" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/legal-experts-sbf-deep-trouble" categories: - "Blockchain" - "Future Society" tags: - "ftx" - "ftx trial" - "sam bankman-fried" - "the digest" --- # Legal Experts Say SBF Is in Deep Trouble ![It's week three of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried's criminal trial, and legal experts aren't optimistic about his chances.]() *NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 15: FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried arrives at Manhattan Federal Court for a court appearance on June 15, 2023 in New York City. A court in the Bahamas temporarily barred the country’s government from agreeing to let US prosecutors pursue part of their criminal case against Bankman-Fried this week due to them being added after his agreed extradition. The Justice Department in a filing informed Judge Lewis Kaplan that it will only try Bankman-Fried on the original eight counts mentioned in the original indictment that includes wire fraud, securities fraud, money laundering, and campaign finance fraud. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images) \Image: Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images\* ## Mounting Danger As former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried's criminal trial settles into its third week, legal experts don't seem particularly optimistic about the ex-billionaire's chances of exoneration. Bankman-Fried, who's currently on trial in New York City as he pleads not guilty to several counts related to fraud and the misappropriation of FTX customer funds, has spent the last few weeks facing the [often brutal testimonies]() of his former friends and colleagues, who together have painted an [increasingly damning portrait]() of their ex-boss and his alleged crimes. And as several legal experts [told *The Washington Post*](), it seems that the prosecution's witness-heavy strategy is working — while Bankman-Fried's defense seems to be struggling. There's "no question \[the defense is\] having a really hard time," Rebecca Mermelstein, a former federal prosecutor for the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, told *WaPo*. (The Southern District's office is prosecuting the case.) ## Walls Closing In Speaking to *WaPo*, experts called special attention to the pivotal testimony of Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of the closely-FTX-tied hedge fund Alameda Research. The one-time employee of *and* on-and-off ex-girlfriend of Bankman-Fried, Ellison's testimony was lined with bombshells and striking [revelations](), among them [direct accusations]() that her former boss and lover had instructed her to misuse customer friends, bribe foreign officials, and doctor balance sheets containing [multibillion-dollar holes](). This willingness to admit her own culpability, lawyers say, is a difficult obstacle for the defense to overcome. "It's very difficult for the defense," Jordan Estes, another former Southern District prosecutor, told the newspaper, "when you have a witness in the inner circle who has completely embraced that they have been involved with wrongdoing." The experts also recalled Bankman-Fried's thwarted attempts to rally his own star witnesses, with the federal judge presiding over the case rejecting a total of seven of the defense's proposed witnesses before the trial even began, according to *WaPo*. Another major challenge that could be up ahead? Bankman-Fried's likely turn to take the stand himself. It's unclear if he will, but if the prosecution's evidence continues to mount, a go in the witness chair could be SBF's last Hail Mary — but one that could either come too little, too late, or even give the enigmatic former wunderkind a chance to [make new mistakes](). It would "be really, really tough to get through unscathed, when he's on the stand and contradicting a whole ton of evidence that the government has already presented," Samuel Buell, a former federal prosecutor and a law professor at Duke University, told *WaPo.* "It's very rare that a defendant can turn a case around from the witness stand." **More on the FTX trial:** [*You Have Got to See This Unhinged SBF Memo*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()