Former FTX director and Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) associate Ryan Salame was sentenced to 7.5 years in prison and a total of $11 million in reparations for criminal charges stemming from his work at the SBF cryptocurrency exchange after a Tuesday morning hearing.
Salame had originally demanded an 18-month prison sentence, while U.S. prosecutors had insisted that the former head of FTX’s Bahamian subsidiary, FTX Digital Markets, get between five and seven years.
In October 2023. Salame pleaded guilty to conducting illegal money transfer activities and making illegal political donations related to the cryptocurrency exchange. However, he refused to cooperate with federal prosecutors, which could have resulted in a longer-than-recommended sentence for his crimes.
“Ryan Salame agreed to further the interests of FTX, Alameda Research and its associates through an unlawful political influence campaign and unlicensed money transfer activities, which helped FTX grow faster and bigger by operating outside the law,” said attorney Damian Williams. “Salame’s involvement in two serious federal crimes undermined public confidence in American elections and the integrity of the financial system. Today’s ruling underscores the significant consequences of such crimes.”
SBF friends await their fate in connection with FTX scam
Salame’s sentence was handed down by Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who recently ordered SBF to pay an $11 billion fine and serve 25 years in prison.
Bankman-Fried is currently being transferred from the Metropolitan Detention Center to a prison in his home state of California. He is appealing the verdict in his case after a month-long trial in October 2023, in which some of his closest friends and FTX executives testified against him.
Salame, who is the first FTX director other than Bankman-Fried to be convicted of his crimes, has repeatedly denied knowledge of FTX stealing customer funds.
“As with thousands of other FTX employees, customers, investors and lenders, Ryan almost immediately lost years of hard work and almost all of his net wealth,” Salame’s lawyers said in a recent lawsuit. “Ryan, who was not part of Sam Bankman-Fried’s closest circle, was unaware of the crimes underlying this case.”
In addition to Salame, former FTX engineering chief Nishad Singh, Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison and FTX co-founder Gary Wang are expected to be sentenced in the coming calendar year.
After serving his sentence, Salame was ordered to serve three years of supervised release.
