Incarcerated former FTX executive Ryan Salame has managed to reduce his prison sentence by a year, according to data from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons. His new release date is now set for March 1st, 2031, a year earlier than originally expected.
Salame, who was the former co-chief executive of FTX Digital Markets, began serving his sentence in October after being convicted and sentenced to 7.5 years behind bars. This means that he was initially projected to be released around April 2032.
The charges against Salame included conspiracy to make unlawful political contributions and defraud the Federal Election Commission, as well as conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business. These offenses led to his sentencing last year by District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan.
However, a legal dispute over the indictment of Michelle Bond, the mother of Salame’s child, delayed the start of his prison term. FTX, the company where Salame worked, faced financial troubles and ultimately filed for bankruptcy in November 2022. The collapse of the exchange was attributed to allegations that founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried mismanaged customer funds by loaning billions of dollars to Alameda Research, the firm’s trading arm, for risky cryptocurrency bets that failed.
Following the collapse of FTX, Bankman-Fried was arrested by US federal authorities and sentenced to 25 years in prison by Judge Kaplan in March. He was also ordered to pay $11 billion in forfeiture. Bankman-Fried is currently appealing his conviction and sentence.
As Salame’s release date approaches, it is evident that the fallout from the FTX scandal continues to impact those involved. The developments in this case serve as a reminder of the consequences of financial misconduct and illegal activities in the cryptocurrency industry. Stay tuned for more updates on this ongoing story.