Sam Bankman-Fried to Be Sent to Jail After Judge Revokes Bail
Mr. Bankman-Fried’s lawyer said in court that he intended to appeal.
The courtroom scene was the latest development in one of the most stunning corporate implosions in recent memory. FTX rode the highs of the cryptocurrency market to become one of the industry’s leading companies, before filing for bankruptcy after a run on deposits last fall. Over just a few weeks, Mr. Bankman-Fried went from being an industry titan courted by politicians and celebrities to a criminal defendant facing decades in prison.
Now he will have to prepare for his trial, scheduled for Oct. 2, from a jail cell. The court dispute over his bail focused on an article in The New York Times published last month that described private writings by Caroline Ellison, an executive in Mr. Bankman-Fried’s business empire who also dated him. Ms. Ellison has pleaded guilty to fraud charges and agreed to cooperate with the prosecutors investigating Mr. Bankman-Fried.
In court filings, prosecutors said Mr. Bankman-Fried had given the documents to The Times to intimidate Ms. Ellison by casting her in a negative light ahead of his trial. They also noted that Mr. Bankman-Fried has had numerous conversations with other journalists, including the author Michael Lewis, who is writing a book about FTX that is set for publication the week the trial begins.
Before calling for Mr. Bankman-Fried’s bail to be revoked, the prosecutors had also asked Judge Kaplan to impose a gag order preventing the FTX founder from speaking to the media before his trial.
Lawyers for Mr. Bankman-Fried said that when he gave the documents to The Times, he was exercising his rights to answer “an inquiry from the media” and that he did not breach the terms of his bail. The Times, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and a documentarian making a film about Mr. Bankman-Fried each submitted court filings raising First Amendment concerns about the gag order.