Prosecutors tell Sam Bankman-Fried's trial 'no plea deals'

62
2
Prosecutors tell Sam Bankman-Fried's trial 'no plea deals'

On the first day of Sam Bankman-Fried's trial in New York, U.S. government prosecutors told the court that no plea deals had ever been under consideration for the accused former CEO.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Nick Roos, assistant U.S. Attorney for Texas, said in a partial transcript: ''It's a big question. ''

Mr. Kaplan then asked the defense whether the prosecutor's account was accurate. Bankman-Fried's lawyer, Mark Cohen, said that there had been no such offer.

Bankman-Fried may have been able to plead guilty to reduced charges or dropped charges, if a plea deal had been offered. Bankman-Fried, in the absence of such an offer, has maintained his not guilty plea in response to the indictments filed over the past several months.

The decision to dismiss a plea offer is particularly significant given that some Bankman-Fried's former associates, such as Caroline Ellison, Gary Wang, and Nishad Singh, have received and agreed to plea deals. Some are now expected to testify as witnesses during the trial.

The rest of the court's opening day was largely focused on jury selection as Judge Kaplan sought possible conflicts of interest among jurors.

The jurors also said that they were familiar with the case, with one saying that he had learned about FTX through the podcaster Joe Rogan. One juror said that his company had lost money investing in FTX and Alameda Research.

The two jurors had said that they or a family member invested in cryptocurrency and lost money, and one juror said he has felt negative about crypto since he learned about it. One juror said she once worked for Signature Bank, a now-collapsed bank that at one point provided services to Bankman-Fried's FTX empire.

Some of the jurors were sacked from the case. Jurors should not share or post information about the proceedings and said they should stay away from coverage.

The trial is expected to last for about six weeks, possibly ending in mid-November, Judge Kaplan said in a statement.