Article reprint source: Blockchain Knight

As BeInCrypto reported earlier, former FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has attracted much attention for his early release from prison.

However, tweets from Musk and others indicate that this is very likely.

So, what are the chances that the FTX founder will be out of prison less than a year after his conviction?

In 2020, at the height of FTX’s career, Sam Bankman-Fried donated $5.2 million to a pro-Biden super PAC. He is the second-largest individual donor to the Democratic Party after Michael Bloomberg.

Historically, political donors and their affiliates have had a huge advantage themselves when it comes to convictions and pardons.

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

The controversy surrounding the pardon arises because Rich's ex-wife Denise is a major donor of the Democratic Party. She has made significant donations 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 state that this is because Pogue's family donated over $200,000 to Trump's campaign.

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

"SBF donated almost all of his money to the Democratic Party (98%), making him the second-largest donor to the Democratic Party, and now Biden's chances of pardoning him are 12%."

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

Additionally, Biden last week pardoned Michael Conahan.

Conahan was sentenced to 17 years in prison due to a scandal involving "exchanging children for money." He accepted bribes from private juvenile detention centers in exchange for often sending children to these centers for minor offenses.

This is a specific indication that Biden may not shy away from pardoning major criminals.

In the trial of Bankman-Fried, the most controversial point was that the government overlooked the charges related to campaign financing.

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

However, this campaign finance charge was withdrawn in July 2023.

Initially, Bankman-Fried's charges were withdrawn due to a treaty obligation with the Bahamas.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

However, the prosecution claims it will conduct a separate trial regarding these charges.

The purpose of the second trial is to address the charges of campaign finance violations that were withdrawn, along with some charges related to bribery and operating an unlicensed remittance business.

However, in December 2023, the prosecution announced that it would not conduct a second trial, as the evidence for the second trial would largely repeat what was already presented in the first trial.

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

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

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

Prominent attorney Richard W. Painter wrote: "Sam Bankman-Fried and his accomplices hope to receive pardons or reduced sentences in exchange for the campaign donations they stole from FTX investors. Any president who agrees to do so should be impeached for bribery."

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

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

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

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

Considering these facts, along with critics arguing that the sentence is too light, the crypto asset industry clearly anticipates that Sam Bankman-Fried may receive leniency.

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

The president may approve a pardon 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 wealthy individuals escape legal troubles through political donations will inevitably raise moral concerns.