Former FTX Executive Director and FTX Markets Co-CEO Ryan Salame is asking for a postponement of his jail date for criminal charges stemming from his work at cryptocurrency exchange Sam Bankman-Fried after he was “bitten” by a dog.
According to the motion filed Friday, Salame suffered a “facial injury as a result of being bitten by a dog” after being “bitten by a German Shepherd while visiting a friend” on June 29 and was examined by a doctor on July 3.
FTX Executive Director Ryan Salame ‘bitten’ by German Shepherd, asks for deferred prison sentence
Lawyers for the former cryptocurrency executive are asking Judge Lewis A. Kaplan of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to postpone Salame’s August 29 hearing so that he can “receive urgent and necessary treatment and surgery.”
“I’ve been bitten in the face by a dog (it’s my fault, not the dog’s) and all I can think about is I hope this surgeon isn’t a Democrat who knows I’m a Republican,” Salame wrote on X on June 29.
Large portions of the former SBF associate’s letter to Kaplan, including photos of the alleged injury, have been redacted.
Salame pleaded guilty to violating campaign finance laws, defrauding the Federal Election Commission and conspiring to engage in unlicensed money transfer activities last September.
The former co-CEO of FTX’s Bahamian subsidiary, FTX Markets, was formally sentenced to 7.5 years in prison in May.
FTX directors await their fate after Sam Bankman-Fried’s conviction
Salame’s criminal troubles follow the dramatic collapse of cryptocurrency exchange Sam Bankman-Frieda in November 2022 amid revelations that FTX and its sister company, Alameda Research, misappropriated more than $8 billion in customer funds.
Bankman-Fried was convicted in November 2022 after a month-long fraud trial in which several former friends and employees of the FTX founder testified against him, including FTX Chief Engineering Officer Nishad Singh, FTX Chief Technology Officer Gary Wang and Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison.
Bankman-Fried is currently serving 25 years in federal prison and was ordered to pay $11 billion in asset forfeiture following his conviction in March.
Both Sing and Wang are scheduled to be sentenced in the fall for their involvement in a multibillion-dollar digital asset scheme. Ellison’s sentencing date has apparently not yet been set. In addition to the prison term, Salame will have to pay a total of $11 million in asset forfeiture and compensation for cryptocurrency-related crimes.
