Sam Bankman-Fried Withdraws Motion for New Trial, Denies Ghostwriting Allegations

In brief

• FTX founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has withdrawn his request for a new trial after filing a so-called Rule 33 Motion in February
• The disgraced former crypto mogul, who is serving time in California, insisted that he was representing himself despite receiving help on the motion from his parents.
• Bankman-Fried claimed that he was withdrawing the motion because he doesn’t believe U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan will give him a “fair hearing.”

Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founder of collapsed crypto exchange FTX, has withdrawn his request for a new trial while trying to distance his parents from recent legal efforts, according to a letter received by U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan’s chambers on Tuesday.

Filed in the Southern District of New York, the letter was written by the former crypto mogul from a low-security correctional facility in Lompoc, California—roughly 3,000 miles away from the courtroom where he was sentenced in 2024 to 25 years in prison.

In the letter received by Kaplan on Tuesday, Bankman-Fried acknowledged that he shared drafts of the Rule 33 Motion with his parents, Barbara Fried and Joe Bankman. They made editorial suggestions, he stated, some of which were incorporated into the motion. 

Additionally, Bankman-Fried stated that his parents helped him print the document.

Bankman-Fried had filed a so-called Rule 33 Motion in February, seeking a do-over after being convicted of orchestrating a multi-billion-dollar fraud scheme in 2023. The motion claimed that he was indicted on false allegations, such as plundering customer funds from his exchange.

Notably, Sam Bankman-Fried filed the motion pro se, indicating that he was representing himself as his own attorney. Kaplan shot back with a court order, demanding input on whether the one-time wunderkind had received help with the request from other attorneys. Kaplan noted that Bankman-Fried risked perjury with his ensuing response.

The request for a new trial was accompanied by a letter written by his mother, a professor at Stanford Law School. Fried stated that she had been authorized by Bankman-Fried to file the proceeding, citing her son’s ongoing incarceration.

“They had no significant input into the ultimate motion,” Bankman-Fried stated to the judge. “I am the ultimate author of the documents and wrote the bulk of them myself, but can't comment on how you will ultimately interpret the standard in practice.”

Bankman-Fried also told Kaplan that he is withdrawing his pro se motion because he believes that he won’t “get a fair hearing on this topic in front of you.” His appellate lawyer had previously claimed that he was “presumed guilty” at trial by Kaplan, among others.

Again, Bankman-Fried stated that he did not have assistance with the motion from his appellate attorney, Alexandra Shapiro, nor others who assisted with his criminal trial in 2023.

President Donald Trump has pardoned several crypto entrepreneurs since his second term began, including Bankman-Fried’s one-time nemesis, Binance founder and former CEO Changpeng Zhao, who had pleaded guilty to anti-money laundering violations.

The president indicated in January, however, that Bankman-Fried isn’t expected to receive similar treatment, per The New York Times. His parents have tried to curry favor with Trump, seeking lawyers who have the president’s ear, per Bloomberg.