SBF lawyer calls 100-year prison sentence ‘grotesque’ and ‘barbaric’

• Probation officials have recommended 100 years in prison for FTX founder Sam Bankman Freed.
• “The recommendation is grotesque,” Bankman Freed’s attorney Mark Mukasey said Tuesday.
• Mukasey said Bankman-Freed’s sentence should be five to six-and-a-half years.

Sam Bankman-Freed’s attorney believes the punishment the Probation Office wants to impose on his client goes too far.

“The PSR recommends that the court sentence Sam to 100 years in prison. That recommendation is grotesque,” attorney Mark Mukasey said in a sentencing memorandum filed Tuesday. I wrote this while referring to the book.

Ms Mukasey argued that the Probation Service’s recommendations “significantly exaggerated the seriousness of Sam’s crimes, which justifies a downward adjustment”.

Mukasey said the victims of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX were “ready to get their 100 cents back on the dollar — they always were.”

“The court should reject PSR’s wild proposal,” Mukasey wrote.

Mukasey said Bankman-Freed should instead be sentenced to five to six-and-a-half years in prison. The lawyer said sentencing should take into account Bankman Freed’s “philanthropy and dedication to others.”

“A sentence that quickly returns Sam to a productive role in society is sufficient, but no more severe than necessary to comply with the sentencing objectives,” Mukasey wrote in the memo.

In November, Bankman Freed was found guilty of seven counts of fraud and conspiracy. The disgraced FTX founder could face up to 110 years in prison for his crimes. His sentence is scheduled to be handed down on March 28th.

Representatives for Bankman Freed did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for comment outside of normal business hours.