Sam Bankman-fried seeks Trump pardon after 25-year sentence

Sam Bankman-fried has applied for a pardon from President Donald Trump after receiving a 25-year sentence in the FTX case. The filing goes to the Department of Justice after completion of sentence and puts his fraud convictions back into the pardon process while he continues to appeal.

Bankman-Fried and Trump

Bankman-Fried, the 34-year-old former FTX chief, was convicted of multiple federal charges tied to FTX and Alameda Research. He has long maintained that he is innocent.

The request does not seek a commutation. That leaves the pardon application aimed at a later forgiveness of the conviction after he serves his prison term, rather than an earlier reduction in the sentence itself.

FTX Collapse in 2022

FTX collapsed in 2022 amid claims that Bankman-Fried had been using deposited funds as his own. The company had been founded and led by him before the exchange failed and the criminal case followed.

Earlier this year, Trump was asked whether he would pardon Bankman-Fried and indicated that he would not. Bankman-Fried’s filing now sits alongside more than 20,000 requests for either pardon or commutations.

Department of Justice Filing

The application was filed after completion of sentence to the Department of Justice, according to online records. For Bankman-Fried, who is still trying to appeal his sentence, the filing adds one more legal track on top of the conviction review already underway.

The practical result is simple: his pardon bid is now part of a crowded federal review process, and the only path it names is forgiveness after the prison term ends.