A federal judge has ordered former FTX Digital Markets co-CEO Ryan Salame to appear for a hearing despite withdrawing a request to vacate a guilty plea.
In an Aug. 29 filing in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Judge Lewis Kaplan said Salame was required to appear in court on Sept. 12 as part of the conditions of his release on bail. He was initially scheduled to report to prison to serve a 90-month sentence starting on Aug. 29 but received a delay to Oct. 13 after reporting medical complications because of a dog bite.
On Aug. 21, the former FTX executive’s legal team filed a petition to have the court vacate his guilty plea, alleging authorities agreed not to pursue an investigation into his partner, Michelle Bond. However, after prosecutors unsealed an indictment for campaign finance law violations against Bond on Aug. 22, Salame withdrew his petition and said a ruling on the matter could be made in her case.
“Notwithstanding [Salame’s] purported withdrawal without prejudice of his petition for a writ of error coram nobis or alternatively a writ of audita querula, the parties shall file papers contemplated by the Court’s order of August 21, 2024 on the schedule there set forth,” said Judge Kaplan. “Counsel shall appear for argument on September 12, 2024 as scheduled. Defendant’s presence is required and his compliance with this requirement hereby is made a condition of his continued release on bail pending voluntary surrender.”
Source: Courtlistener
Prosecutors have not yet filed a response to Salame’s request to withdraw the petition. In response to the initial filing, they called his allegations “demonstrably false” for claiming authorities would not pursue investigating Bond.
FTX fallout
According to Bond’s indictment, she and Salame illegally funded her run for the US House of Representatives in 2022, making false statements to the Federal Election Commission and a congressional committee to conceal their conduct. The pair allegedly arranged a $400,000 payment from FTX to fund Bond’s campaign.
After FTX’s collapse, authorities charged Salame with two felony counts, for which he pleaded guilty in September 2023. Bond pleaded not guilty at an Aug. 22 hearing. Both were free on $1 million bail each at the time of publication and asked to surrender their travel documents.
The outcome of Salame’s petition could affect the sentencing hearings of former FTX and Alameda Research executives.
In March, former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison following his conviction on seven felony charges. Former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison, former FTX engineering director Nishad Singh, and FTX co-founder Gary Wang all pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.
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