Ryan Salame, the former co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets, has withdrawn a petition to vacate his guilty plea for violations of campaign finance and money-transmitting laws.

In an Aug. 29 filing in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Salame’s legal team told the court his longtime partner, Michelle Bond — also facing criminal charges — “may raise the matter” of his guilty plea in her case. Prosecutors unsealed an indictment against Bond on Aug. 22, alleging violations of campaign finance law related to her 2022 congressional campaign.

“To be clear, Mr. Salame stands by the facts set forth in the Petition and his accompanying declaration,” said the filing. “Mr. Salame is withdrawing the Petition, however, to allow the facts to be developed by Ms. Bond, and a ruling to be made, in her case [...] it makes sense to adjudicate the issues raised in the Petition in the docket in which the indictment is pending.”

Source: SDNY

On Aug. 21, Salame’s lawyers filed a petition for a writ of error coram nobis, which, if it had been granted, could have allowed Judge Lewis Kaplan to vacate the guilty plea and 90-month sentence, for which he is expected to report on Oct. 13. The former FTX executive was initially scheduled to report to prison on Aug. 29, but requested a delay due to medical complications from a dog bite. 

Intertwined cases

According to the petition, Salame claimed the US government would not pursue an investigation against Bond for campaign finance violations if he pleaded guilty. In an Aug. 26 filing, prosecutors called the allegations “demonstrably false,” opposing the motion.

The campaign finance allegations against Salame and Bond were related to the latter’s run to represent New York’s 1st Congressional District in 2022. Though her candidacy did not advance beyond the Republican primary, prosecutors alleged the pair conspired to use funds tied to FTX for her congressional campaign.

Authorities charged Salame with the two felony counts after FTX’s collapse, for which he pleaded guilty in September 2023. Bond pleaded not guilty at her Aug. 22 hearing in New York. Both were free on $1 million bail each at the time of publication and asked to surrender their travel documents. 

According to Bond’s indictment, she met Salame in June 2021 and was in a romantic relationship with him by 2022. The two have a nine-month-old child together. 

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