Source: beincrypto

Compiled by: Blockchain Knight

BeInCrypto previously reported that former FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has been under scrutiny for the possibility of early release.

However, tweets from Elon Musk and others indicate that this possibility is quite high.

So, how likely is it that the FTX founder will leave prison less than a year after being convicted?

In 2020, at the peak of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried donated $5.2 million to a super PAC supporting Biden. He was the second largest individual donor to the Democrats after Michael Bloomberg.

Historically, political donors and their affiliates have a significant advantage in terms of conviction and pardon.

Take Marc Rich as an example; this 'notorious' oil trader evaded at least $50 million in taxes as early as 2021. However, Rich was pardoned on the last day of Clinton's term.

The controversy over the pardon stems from the fact that Rich's ex-wife Denise is a major donor to the Democrats. She has made significant contributions to Clinton's presidential library and the Democratic National Committee.

Similarly, Paul Pogue is another convicted tax fraudster who was pardoned by Trump in 2020. Reports suggest this was because Pogue's family donated over $200,000 to Trump's campaign.

Prediction market firm Kalshi posted on X: "Sam Bankman-Fried used millions of stolen customer funds to fund political activities."

"SBF donated almost all his funds to the Democrats (98%), making him the second largest donor to the Democrats, and now the chance of Biden pardoning him is 12%."

Given the historical cases where political donors are more likely to receive leniency, the controversy over Sam Bankman-Fried potentially being pardoned by Biden is also understandable.

Additionally, Biden pardoned Michael Conahan last week.

Conahan was sentenced to 17 years in prison due to a scandal involving 'exchanging children for money.' He accepted bribes from a private juvenile detention center in exchange for sending children there on minor charges.

This is a concrete proof that Biden may not avoid pardoning serious criminals.

The most controversial point in Bankman-Fried's trial was that the government overlooked charges related to campaign finance.

Initially, Bankman-Fried faced eight criminal charges, including conspiracy to defraud the United States and violation of campaign finance laws.

However, the campaign finance charge was dropped in July 2023.

Initially, Bankman-Fried's charges were dropped due to a treaty obligation in the Bahamas. Essentially, the Bahamian government opposed including this specific charge in the extradition request.

However, the prosecution claims it will pursue a separate trial for these charges.

The purpose of the retrial is to address the dropped campaign finance charges, as well as some charges related to bribery and operating an unlicensed remittance business.

However, in December 2023, the prosecution announced it would not pursue a retrial, as the evidence in the retrial would largely repeat what was presented in the first trial.

Earlier this year, Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison for multiple counts of telecom fraud and other charges.

However, given the scale and impact of his crimes, many believe the sentencing is too lenient.

The collapse of FTX led to over $16 billion in losses for customers and creditors, and the crypto asset winter resulted in over $100 billion in market losses. Thus, many believe this sentencing is lenient, considering it one of the largest financial scandals in U.S. history.

Noted attorney Richard W. Painter wrote: "Sam Bankman-Fried and his associates hope to receive a pardon or reduced sentence in exchange for the campaign contributions they stole from FTX investors. Any president who agrees to do so should be impeached for bribery."

Prosecutors initially sought a 50-year sentence, arguing that Sam Bankman-Fried's crimes were 'historic' in scope and severity.

Prosecutors highlighted the enormous economic losses suffered by FTX customers and the public's declining trust in the crypto asset market.

Additionally, Caroline Ellison, who actively withdrew customer funds from FTX and Bankman-Fried, was sentenced to only 2 years in prison due to her cooperation with prosecutors.

Most surprisingly, Gary Wang, the coder who provided unlimited credit to Alameda, completely avoided prison time.

Given these facts and critics' views that the sentencing is too lenient, the crypto asset industry is clearly expecting that Sam Bankman-Fried might receive leniency.

However, it should be noted that the link between donations and pardons is not always consistent.

The president may approve pardons for other reasons, and it is difficult to clearly demonstrate that donations are the sole or primary motivating factor.

But it is certain that the existence of cases where the wealthy evade legal troubles through political donations will inevitably raise moral concerns.