--- title: "Sam Bankman-Fried Is Facing 110 Years in Prison" description: "FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried was found guilty on all seven counts in his fraud trial — and he's now facing a huge prison sentence." date: "2023-11-03" modified: "2023-11-03" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/sbf-guilty-110-years" categories: - "Blockchain" - "Future Society" tags: - "ftx" - "legal" - "sbf" - "the digest" --- # Sam Bankman-Fried Is Facing 110 Years in Prison ![FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried was found guilty on all seven counts in his fraud trial — and he's now facing a huge prison sentence.]() *\Image: Faith Atkas via Getty / Futurism\* ## Lock Him Up FTX cofounder Sam Bankman-Fried was found guilty on all seven counts in the [jaw-dropping conclusion to his fraud trial]() — and he's now facing a very real prison sentence. Bankman-Fried is, [as *NBC News* reports](), staring down a statutory maximum of 110 years in prison in what district attorney Damian Williams called "one of the biggest financial frauds in American history, a multibillion-dollar scheme designed to make him the king of crypto." To be fair, presiding Judge Lewis Kaplan did warn SBF ahead of trial that he was facing a "[very long sentence]()" for defrauding all those investors out of $8 billion big ones. That same judge, who [demonstrated repeatedly]() [during the trial]() that he [wasn't putting up with any nonsense](), went on to suggest that if he determines the ex-FTX CEO committed perjury on the witness stand, he may even go above the sentencing guidelines that affect the severity of sentencing, [per *CBS'* reporting](). "Here's the thing: the cryptocurrency industry might be new. The players like Sam Bankman-Fried might be new. This kind of fraud, this kind of corruption, is as old as time, and we have no patience for it." ## Coming Down Hard As [*Cointelegraph* explains](), all seven of the charges against Bankman-Fried — which include wire fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering — carry sentencing guidelines between five and 20 years. SBF's sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 28, 2024, so we'll have to wait a while to see how hard Kaplan comes down on him. But if he listens to prosecutors, whose recommendations are customarily taken into consideration, it's not outside the realm of possibility that he'll throw the book at him. If so, it wouldn't be entirely unwarranted; SBF has now been found guilty of [so many outlandish crimes]() that he's looking [more like a Batman villain]() than the [crypto whisperer]() he was once portrayed as. Nevertheless, it has been stunning to see a crypto case be treated with such severity by the government — and it seems very much to signal that the digital currency industry is [no longer the wild west it once was](). **More on crypto:** [*Guy Who Stole Billions in Bitcoin Lived a Sad Life*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()