The former FTX DM co-CEO had previously reached a plea agreement in September.

On May 28, the U.S. Department of Justice sentenced former FTX executive Ryan Salame to 90 months, or 7.5 years, in prison.

According to the New York Times, Salaam will surrender on August 29. His lawyers plan to have Salaam serve his sentence at a federal prison in Cumberland, Maryland.

Salaam must also serve three years of supervised release and pay more than $6 million in forfeiture taxes and $5 million in restitution.

Commenting on Salaam’s admitted role in illegal campaign financing and illegal money transmission operations, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said the sentencing “underscores the serious consequences of crimes like this.”

Kaplan upholds long prison sentence

In a sentencing account obtained by The New York Times, Judge Lewis Kaplan first mentioned Salaam’s personal trading during FTX’s collapse, which included withdrawals of $5 million and $600,000.

Judge Kaplan said Salaam intended to "get on the lifeboat first" to the detriment of his clients by using the initial amount for personal expenses and hiring a public relations firm.

The judge also condemned Salam’s political financing crimes, saying that “the political life of the country is at risk” and that the FTX incident had made the situation worse.

Meanwhile, the defense said that Salam was unaware of the fraud committed by former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and called Salam “just a tool” of the former exchange head. They also described Salam’s life situation and explained the harm caused to him by the collapse of FTX.

Still, Judge Kaplan insisted a lengthy prison sentence was necessary, which The New York Times noted was longer than the five to seven years prosecutors had requested or the 18 months sought by Salaam’s defense attorneys.

Salame is highly involved in FTX

In October 2021, Salame became co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets, FTX's Bahamian subsidiary. Between 2019 and 2021, he held other senior positions at FTX sister company Alameda Research.

He conspired with other company executives to operate an unlicensed currency exchange business, transfer FTX customer funds without a license and create false bank statements.

Salame also conspired with former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and former executive Nishad Singh to illegally make more than 300 campaign donations worth tens of millions of dollars.

Salame’s sentencing follows that of Bankman-Fried, who was sentenced to 24 years in prison in March. Other executives at FTX and Alameda Research, including Caroline Ellison, Nishad Singh, and Gary Wang, have also reached plea deals and have yet to face sentencing.