Sam Bankman-Fried, the co-founder of the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange platform FTX, has again failed to convince the court to approve his bail request.
Three U.S. judges have been appointed to the 2nd Judicial District of the United States. Bankman-Fried's bail application was denied by the Court of Appeals in Manhattan, and the court found no error in an earlier decision made by U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, a court filing dated Sept. 21 revealed.
The conviction that there was probable cause to believe that [Bankman-Fried] tried to tamper with two witnesses... and specifically that he acted with unlawful intent to influence those witnesses, said appellate judges in the case.
However, the Appellate judges found that the district court acknowledged his rights and noted that Judge Kaplan determined that speech used to commit a criminal offense, including witness tampering, is not protected by the First Amendment rights of Bankman-Fried.
It correctly determined that speech falls outside the jurisdiction of constitutional protection when a person engages in speech to commit a criminal offense such as witness tampering.
The crypto mogul's defense team also raised the issue of Judge Kaplan's failure to consider a less restrictive alternative prion, but it was rejected by the panel of judges and on the appeals court, underlining that the district court had considered all relevant factors, including the possibility of barring Bankman-Fried from speaking to the press.
a more complex argument and find them unpersuasive. Upon due consideration, it is hereby ordered that the motion for release pending trial is DENIED. The motion for immediate release pending disposition of this appeal is DENIED as moot, the court's ruling said, adding that the motion for immediate release was 'DENIED as moot'.
Bankman-Fried will be held in prison until his trial starts on Oct. 3 in Manhattan's circuit court.
Bankman-Fried, 58, was released on Dec. 22, 2022 by a New York federal judge on charges he was behind the fraud and illegal movement of customer funds in his crypto empire.
The judge set the bail at $250 million, and his release was secured by equity in his parents' home in Palo Alto, California, along with a list of requirements.
He was sent to jail again on Aug. 11, 2023, after the judge revoked his bail on a charge of witness tampering.