Ryan Salame, a top executive at the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, was sentenced to 7½ years in prison on May 28. This makes him the first of Sam Bankman-Fried’s advisers at FTX to receive prison time.
Salame, 30, a trusted aide of Bankman-Fried, the exchange’s founder, pleaded guilty in 2023 to violating campaign finance laws and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business.
Ryan Salame Sentenced to 7½ Years for His Role in FTX Collapse
Ryan Salame, one of four top deputies in the FTX empire who have pleaded guilty to crimes since the company imploded in November 2022, has been sentenced to 7½ years in prison. Salame’s sentence exceeded the five to seven years that prosecutors had recommended. He is set to surrender on August 29, with his lawyers requesting that he serve his sentence at the federal prison in Cumberland, Maryland, near his home.
Before FTX failed, Salame was a key figure at the exchange, overseeing its subsidiary in the Bahamas, where the company was based. As FTX grew into a $32 billion business, Salame spent lavishly, enjoying expensive cars and private jets. He was also a prolific political donor, contributing more than $24 million in the 2022 US midterm elections, mostly to Republicans.
When FTX imploded, Salame became a target of federal prosecutors, who searched his home in Maryland.
Ryan Salame’s Guilty Plea and Sentencing for Campaign Finance Violations
In September, Ryan Salame pleaded guilty, admitting that he acted as an illegal “straw donor,” making political contributions at the direction of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried to evade federal disclosure requirements. Prosecutors described this as “one of the largest ever” campaign finance offenses in US history.
As part of his plea deal, Salame agreed to pay a $6 million fine and more than $5 million in restitution. Before the sentence was announced, Salame briefly addressed the court, apologizing to FTX’s customers and his family.
However, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan stated that a long sentence was necessary to send a message to wealthy individuals about “the consequences of perverting our electoral system and its rules.” Salame, the judge noted, “knowingly and willfully assisted in destroying the limited transparency that the laws of the United States provide in this area.”
Important: Please note that this article is only meant to provide information and should not be taken as legal, tax, investment, financial, or any other type of advice.
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