Gary Wang, the former Chief Technology Officer at FTX and once a member of Sam Bankman-Fried's inner circle, has asked the court to consider a sentence with no jail time for his involvement in the cryptocurrency exchange's collapse in 2022. Wang will be the fourth FTX employee to be sentenced, having pleaded guilty to four counts of fraud and conspiracy in December 2022. Although the charges carry a maximum sentence of 50 years, the sentences given to his former colleagues may provide a better indication of his own sentence. Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison, while Ryan Salame received a 7.5-year sentence.
Caroline Ellison was sentenced to 2 years, and Nishad Singh was spared jail time after cooperating with prosecutors. Wang's lawyers argue that his involvement was limited, and he cooperated with the investigation, much like Singh.
They claim Wang was less involved in Bankman-Fried's schemes and received fewer financial benefits than Singh. Wang's role was to write code, including the 'backdoor' that allowed Alameda to access customer funds.
His lawyers state that he had no knowledge of Bankman-Fried's plan to exploit this code to steal customer funds. Wang never sought compensation beyond his $200,000 annual salary and has since lived a modest life, working as a software engineer and starting a family.
His sentencing is set for November 20.