Disgraced FTX crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried’s ex-girlfriend Caroline Ellison was facing up to 110 years in prison before she agreed to cooperate with the federal government, her plea agreement shows.
The former Alameda hedge fund CEO, 28, pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges in an agreement signed on Monday.
The agreement also indicates that Ellison and FTX co-founder Gary Wang had agreed to “cooperate fully” with the feds, in exchange for which they will likely get much lighter sentences.
It appears prosecutors want Sam’s butt in a sling as the pleas to date specifically contradict the Mini-Madoff’s dindunuffin narrative.
It will be interesting to watch if this goes to trial. What if any sentence will be handed the Democrat’s 2nd largest donor?
Judge kept FTX execs’ plea deals secret to get founder to US
NEW YORK (AP) — A judge kept secret that two of Sam Bankman-Fried’s closest associates had turned against him so the cryptocurrency entrepreneur wouldn’t get spooked and fight extradition from the Bahamas, according to court transcripts made public Friday.
U.S. prosecutors in New York waited until Bankman-Fried, the founder of the collapsed crypto exchange FTX, was in FBI custody before revealing that his business partners, Carolyn Ellison and Gary Wang, had secretly pleaded guilty to fraud charges and were cooperating, which can earn them leniency at sentencing.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams announced the guilty pleas when Bankman-Fried was in the air late Wednesday.
