TLDR
- U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan rejected Sam Bankman-Fried’s bid for a new trial this Tuesday
- The judge characterized the motion as an attempt to rehabilitate SBF’s public image
- Bankman-Fried claimed testimony from three ex-FTX executives would demonstrate the exchange’s solvency
- Kaplan noted the defendant had opportunities to call these witnesses during the original trial
- SBF’s appeal of his fraud conviction and 25-year prison sentence continues
The disgraced cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman-Fried has suffered another legal setback after a federal judge dismissed his petition for a retrial.
A federal judge rejected FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s do-it-yourself motion for a new trial based on what the former crypto king claimed was new evidence https://t.co/Yke9vgqa37
— Bloomberg (@business) April 28, 2026
Judge Lewis Kaplan of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, who oversaw Bankman-Fried’s criminal trial in 2023 and handed down a 25-year prison term in early 2024, issued the denial on Tuesday.
In a sharply worded decision, Kaplan suggested the motion represented “one part of a plan to rescue his reputation” that the fallen crypto executive had been crafting since FTX’s bankruptcy filing and prior to his criminal indictment.
Bankman-Fried submitted the motion in February without legal counsel. He simultaneously requested Kaplan’s recusal from the proceedings, which the judge also rejected.
Days before this ruling, Bankman-Fried attempted to pull back the motion completely. He expressed concern that Kaplan wouldn’t provide “a fair hearing.” The judge turned down that request as well.
Claims of Previously Unavailable Evidence
The FTX founder maintained that three former executives from his company could have delivered testimony demonstrating the exchange remained solvent. Among those cited were Ryan Salame, who led FTX’s Bahamas operations, and Daniel Chapsky, who served as the platform’s data science chief.
Bankman-Fried additionally referenced Nishad Singh, who previously headed engineering at FTX, alleging that Singh modified his courtroom testimony “following threats from the government.”
Judge Kaplan systematically dismissed each assertion. He emphasized that these individuals weren’t “newly discovered” witnesses — Bankman-Fried had known them all before his trial and understood what testimony they might provide.
“He could have obtained or at least sought to compel their testimony,” the judge stated in his order. “But he did neither.”
Kaplan characterized the allegation of government witness intimidation as “wildly conspiratorial and entirely contradicted by the record.”
Context of the Criminal Case
Salame admitted guilt to campaign finance violations and running an unlicensed money transmission operation. He received a seven-and-a-half-year prison sentence in May 2024.
Singh negotiated a cooperation agreement with federal prosecutors that allowed him to avoid incarceration, and he provided testimony against Bankman-Fried during the trial.
A jury found Bankman-Fried guilty on all seven criminal counts, including fraud and money laundering, in November 2023. Federal prosecutors characterized it as “likely the largest fraud in the last decade,” invoking comparisons to the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme.
Evidence presented at trial established that Bankman-Fried illegally transferred billions in FTX customer deposits to Alameda Research, his hedge fund, where the money funded speculative investments that ultimately contributed to the exchange’s implosion.
Judge Kaplan also criticized Bankman-Fried’s public relations efforts, referencing his conversations with writer Michael Lewis and political commentator Tucker Carlson. The judge noted the purportedly new information “have been seen before. Many times.”
Bankman-Fried has pursued a presidential pardon from Donald Trump. However, Trump has publicly stated he has no intention of granting clemency.
The former billionaire is currently incarcerated at a federal correctional facility in Lompoc, California. His appellate challenge to both his conviction and sentence is still working through the courts.
