A federal judge has sentenced former FTX Digital Markets co-CEO Ryan Salame to 7.5 years in prison after pleading guilty to two felony charges.
In a May 28 hearing in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Judge Lewis Kaplan ordered Salame to serve 7.5 years in prison for conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business and engaging in campaign finance fraud. The former FTX executive pleaded guilty to the charges in September 2023 and has been awaiting sentencing.
Salame reported FTX’s fraudulent activities to the Securities Commission of the Bahamas on Nov. 9, 2022 — just two days before Sam Bankman-Fried stepped down as CEO and the firm filed for bankruptcy. Bankman-Fried was later extradited to the U.S. from the Bahamas and convicted of seven felony counts. In March, Judge Kaplan sentenced him to 25 years in prison.
Prosecutors recommended Salame serve up to seven years in prison for his role in misusing FTX user funds and fraud related to contributions to his girlfriend Michelle Bond’s run for Congress. His lawyers argued that an 18-month sentence was appropriate as he occupied the “lowest rung of the conspiracies to which he pleaded guilty” and was unlikely to commit similar crimes.
The former FTX executive was the second figure connected to FTX and Alameda Research to be sentenced after Bankman-Fried. Former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison, former FTX engineering director Nishad Singh and FTX co-founder Gary Wang all pleaded guilty to charges and testified in Bankman-Fried’s criminal trial. It was unclear when their sentencing hearings would take place at the time of publication.
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Salame has been largely free to travel since his guilty plea and release on a $1 million bond. As part of his deal with prosecutors, he will have to pay roughly $6 million in penalties to the U.S. government and $6 million to FTX debtors and surrender two properties and a business.
During forfeiture proceedings, Salame’s lawyers claimed he would be left with “no remaining assets” after having a net worth in the millions in 2022. A May 27 court filing showed Salame might retain ownership of a 2021 Porsche as it did “not have sufficient equity to further pursue forfeiture.”
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This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.
