As Sam Bankman-Fried’s sentencing approaches, letters invoking vegan lifestyle call for leniency
On March 28, Judge Lewis Kaplan will decide how long former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried will remain in prison following his conviction on seven felony counts.
Advocates for Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried, expected to be sentenced on March 28 following his conviction on seven felony counts, have called for leniency for the former FTX CEO.
In letters filed in United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on March 26, five individuals called on Judge Lewis Kaplan to impose a light sentence on SBF. The letters, from people who knew Bankman-Fried personally or were impacted by the collapse of FTX, highlighted SBF’s vegan lifestyle, his experience dealing with autism, and the exchange’s plan to repay users.
Dr. Adam Hesterberg, who lived with SBF from 2012 to 2014, argued the former FTX CEO should receive “leniency in his sentence” based in part on converting half of their household to vegetarianism or veganism. Others who did not know the CEO personally suggested that Judge Kaplan consider Bankman-Fried’s atypical “personality traits” in and out of the courtroom.
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