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

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has formally withdrawn his motion for a retrial, citing concerns that he would not receive a fair hearing. Bankman-Fried, who is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence after being found guilty on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy related to FTX's collapse in 2022, indicated that he might reconsider his motion after the outcome of his direct appeal and a related request for reassignment have been determined. The motion for a new trial had been filed by his mother, Barbara Fried, who claimed that newly discovered evidence would warrant a retrial. Bankman-Fried revealed that he had largely drafted the motion himself while in detention at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, with limited assistance. Although he acknowledged consulting with his lawyers and parents, he maintained that he was the primary author of the letter to the judge. Bankman-Fried's appeal is currently pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, where his attorney, Alexandra Shapiro, argued during oral arguments in November that the trial was fundamentally unfair due to restrictions on the evidence Bankman-Fried could present to the jury.