Sam Bankman-Fried Drops Request for New Trial, Citing Concerns Over Fairness

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has formally withdrawn his request for a retrial, citing doubts about receiving a fair hearing. In a letter to the presiding judge, Bankman-Fried expressed his intention to potentially renew the motion after the resolution of his direct appeal and a related request for reassignment. Currently serving a 25-year sentence for multiple counts of fraud and conspiracy related to FTX's collapse in 2022, Bankman-Fried had initially filed for a new trial, claiming the existence of new evidence that would warrant a retrial. This motion was largely drafted by Bankman-Fried himself while in detention, with some input from his lawyers and family members. Although he consulted with his legal team and family, Bankman-Fried maintained that he was the primary author of the letter to the judge. His appeal is currently pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, where his lawyer, Alexandra Shapiro, argued that the original trial was fundamentally unfair due to restrictions on the evidence Bankman-Fried could present to the jury.