August 4 brought the formal death knell for Sam Bankman-Fried's appeal. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals issued a one-page mandate affirming his conviction on all counts and keeping his 25-year prison sentence locked in place. Three judges, Barrington D. Parker, Eunice C. Lee and Maria Araújo Kahn, signed off without adding a single word of new reasoning. The judgment simply stands.
Back in June, the panel had already rejected his appeal and upheld the seven-count conviction. Parker's written opinion laid bare what the jury heard: while Bankman-Fried publicly reassured customers, investors and regulators that their funds were safe, he was running FTX as a personal piggy bank. He spent customer money on real estate, political donations and investments. The court also upheld the roughly 11 billion dollar forfeiture, deciding that Congress can tie asset seizure to a defendant's gains.
What remains open is narrow. Bankman-Fried can petition the US Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari, typically within 90 days of judgment. The court accepts only a tiny fraction of such petitions. He's already filed for a presidential pardon with the Justice Department, though senators Cynthia Lummis and Ruben Gallego introduced a resolution opposing any clemency. The appellate machinery has ground to a halt. Everything else now depends on whether the highest court even agrees to look at the case.
This is an informational piece. Nothing here constitutes financial or legal advice.
