Ryan Salame, a former top lieutenant at the now collapsed FTX under founder Sam Bankman-Fried, is making headlines as he seeks to void his campaign finance and money laundering guilty plea deal with the government before a New York federal judge on Wednesday.
Ryan Salame, a former top lieutenant at #FTX under founder Sam Bankman-Fried, asked a judge to void the deal he reached with the government and his guilty plea. Says government broke their side of the deal. https://t.co/Vk0wFDpJ7B pic.twitter.com/KhhNFjxOzu
— MartyParty (@martypartymusic) August 21, 2024
Ryan Salame found himself in the crosshairs of the law when, in May 2024, he was handed a sentence of 90 months, equivalent to seven and a half years, in prison, due on October 13. This was to be followed by three years of supervised release. In addition, he was ordered to pay more than $6 million in forfeiture and over $5 million in restitution.
“Mr Salame,….will pay a $6 million fine and more than $5 million in restitution to FTX, and will forfeit two properties in Lenox, Mass., along with a Porsche automobile. He could be sentenced to up to 10 years in a federal prison.#SBF #FTXvia @NYTimes https://t.co/mWxOiVxa61
— kristen shaughnessy (@kshaughnessy2) September 7, 2023
Ryan Salame faces charges related to his role in a large-scale campaign finance scheme that took place while working at FTX, involving millions of dollars.
According to a court filing, prosecutors in the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office offered Ryan Salame a deal in April 2023. They promised to stop investigating his partner, Michelle Bond, for campaign finance violations if Salame pleaded guilty to his charges. This was an attempt to persuade Salame to plead guilty, which he did in September.
JUST IN: Former FTX executive Ryan Salame to plead guilty to criminal charges.He allegedly donated $24M of stolen customer funds to US politicians.In other news, planning on adding campaign contribution data to Quiver sometime next week. pic.twitter.com/5CLdrlSZot
— Quiver Quantitative (@QuiverQuant) September 7, 2023
Salame’s Defense Argues “Inducement”
In a somewhat expected turn of events, Salame’s lawyers have filed a motion alleging that the government reneged on a promise made during the plea negotiations.
The motion states, “The Government used the plea negotiations to threaten Salame’s domestic partner and the mother of his child.” It goes on to say, “In an effort to induce Salame’s plea, Government lawyers conveyed they would discontinue investigating Bond if Salame pleaded guilty.”
However, the filing alleges that the government has since re-opened its investigation into Bond. This perceived betrayal has led Salame to take a bold step. He has asked a judge to void the deal he reached with the government and his guilty plea.
Salame’s lawyers are asking Judge Lewis Kaplan of the Manhattan U.S. District Court to take one of two actions: cancel Salame’s guilty plea because the Government failed to keep its promise or order the prosecutors to honor their commitment and not charge Michelle Bond with a crime.In a heartfelt post, Salame writes, “It’s all true, but I just made a court filing I’m pretty nervous about because I know it means the most powerful body in the world is going to come at me and my loved ones again, but I’m hoping it encourages more people to be honest and tell the truth and expose un-American.” As of now, Salame is due to surrender in October.
The post Former FTX Executive Ryan Salame Moves to Withdraw Guilty Plea, Citing Unkept Promises by Federal Prosecutors appeared first on Coinfomania.
