Ryan Salame's sentence in the FTX case is reduced after judicial review

Former FTX Digital Markets executive Ryan Salame has had his prison sentence reduced by one year, according to documents available from the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. This judicial reduction places his estimated release date in March 2031, a significant change from the initial sentence imposed in May 2024.

Salame faced serious charges of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business and involvement in campaign finance fraud. After pleading guilty in September 2023, the former official was sentenced to 7.5 years on May 28, 2024, which originally projected his release in April 2032, followed by three years of supervised release. The reduction now places him approximately one year earlier than that initial date.

Ryan Salame’s Judicial Path: Clash Between Defense and Prosecution

Ryan Salame’s attorneys presented aggressive arguments seeking a much shorter sentence. His legal team requested only 18 months in prison, arguing that asset forfeitures already constituted substantial punishment. Crucially, Salame’s defenders maintained that their client was unaware of the frauds committed at FTX, emphasizing that “Ryan, who was not part of Sam Bankman-Fried’s inner circle, was not aware of the crimes at the heart of this case.”

In contrast, federal prosecutors sought a sentence between 5 and 7 years of incarceration. Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, however, opted for an even harsher sentence of 90 months, justifying his decision based on the severity of the crime and the massive financial losses caused by the FTX collapse.

Recent Legal Developments: The Battle to Overturn the Guilty Plea

The situation became more complicated when Ryan Salame filed a motion in August to overturn his guilty plea. He claimed that federal prosecutors broke fundamental stipulations of the original agreement. According to Salame, authorities implicitly promised to suspend investigations against his associate, Michelle Bond, regarding election law violations if he pleaded guilty. However, U.S. authorities reactivated the investigation into Bond despite these implicit guarantees, Salame alleges.

After these failed attempts to reverse his guilty plea and delay his incarceration, Ryan Salame voluntarily surrendered to custody on October 11, 2024, at the FCI Cumberland medium-security correctional facility.

Unanswered Questions: Why the Sentence Reduction?

The exact reasons behind the one-year reduction in Ryan Salame’s sentence remain opaque. Cointelegraph attempted to contact FCI Cumberland to clarify this judicial decision but did not receive a response before this information was published.

This judicial reduction, although modest compared to what his lawyers originally requested, marks a notable change in one of the most prominent sentences related to the FTX collapse, positioning Ryan Salame at the center of a case that continues to shape regulatory understanding of the cryptocurrency sector.