Disgraced ‘Crypto King’ Sam Bankman-Fried to be sentenced

BBC: Sam Bankman-Fried, the former billionaire crypto boss who was convicted of fraud and money laundering last year, returned to court in New York yesterday is to be sentenced for his crimes.
It is certain the 32-year-old will be going to jail; what is not known is how long for.

The moment has revived debate about the extent of his crimes - and what punishment might fit.
His legal team has called for leniency, but prosecutors are seeking 40 to 50 years in prison.
They say such a sentence is warranted for someone who lied to investors and banks, and stole billions in deposits from customers of his now-bankrupt crypto exchange, FTX.

His defence team has proposed five to 6.5 years, accusing the government of adopting “a medieval view of punishment” by insisting on a lengthy term behind bars for a non-violent, first-time criminal.

The question has generated hundreds of pages of letters from former FTX customers, family, friends of his parents - even complete strangers - trying to sway Judge Lewis Kaplan, the federal justice who will decide his fate.
“He has shown no remorse so why would any judge show any mercy?” said Sunil Kavuri, a British investor who had more than US$ 2 million worth of holdings on the exchange when it collapsed, and one of the people mobilising former customers to share their experience with the court.  FTX’s collapse in 2022 was a stunning fall for Bankman-Fried, who had become a billionaire and business celebrity promoting the firm, a platform people could use to deposit and trade crypto.