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Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has formally withdrawn his request for a retrial, expressing doubts about receiving a fair hearing. In a letter to the presiding judge, Bankman-Fried indicated that he might refile 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 initially filed the motion for a new trial through his mother, Barbara Fried, citing the emergence of new evidence. While acknowledging that he primarily drafted the motion himself with limited assistance during his detention, Bankman-Fried clarified that he consulted with his lawyers and family members, incorporating some of their suggestions into the final draft. The appeal is presently pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, where his lawyer, Alexandra Shapiro, argued in November that the trial was inherently unfair due to restrictions on the evidence Bankman-Fried could present to the jury.