Ryan Salame, formerly the head of FTX’s subsidiary in the Bahamas, was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison on Tuesday. He’s the first employee under founder Sam Bankman-Fried—who is serving a 25-year sentence for fraud and conspiracy—to get prison time.
Salame, who will surrender himself on August 29, pleaded guilty in 2023 to violating a campaign finance law and a charge of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business. Three other senior executives from the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange have also pleaded guilty to crimes.
Prosecutors in the case asked for a sentencing of five to seven years, while the defense requested 18 months. Judge Lewis A. Kaplan of the Manhattan U.S. District Court, called Salame’s crimes “astonishing.”
“The state of our political life in this country is in jeopardy,” he said. “Efforts like that undertaken by Mr. Salame and Bankman-Fried only make matters worse.”
