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Feds argue in sentencing memo that “legitimate purposes of punishment require a sentence of 40 to 50 years’ imprisonment” for Sam Bankman-Fried

By Douglas Berman

The federal court in the Southern District of New York is scheduled, in less than two week, to sentence Sam Bankman-Fried following his trial conviction on multiple fraud charnges.  A few weeks ago, as noted here, SBF’s lawyers submitted a lengthy sentencing memo arguing that his advisory guideline range is 63-78 months that that “a sentence that returns Sam promptly to a productive role in society would be sufficient, but not greater than necessary, to comply with the purposes of sentencing.”  

Unsurprisingly, federal prosecutors have a different sentencing perspective.  And, in the run-up to the March 28 sentencing, it has not filled this even longer sentencing memorandum.  The argue that SBF’s guideline range is literally off the charts:

Based on the foregoing, the adjusted offense subtotal is 60.  Because any offense level in excess of 43 is treated as an offense level of 43, 43 is the total applicable offense level. (PSR ¶ 89).  The defendant’s criminal history score is zero, which puts him in Criminal History Category I. (PSR ¶ 92).  Based upon these calculations, Bankman-Fried’s advisory Guidelines imprisonment range is life. (PSR ¶ 129).  However, because the statutorily authorized maximum sentence is 110 years’ imprisonment, which is less than life imprisonment, the applicable Guidelines sentence is 110 years’ (1,320 months) imprisonment. U.S.S.G. §§ 5G1.1(a), 5G1.2(d)

Notably, though, federal prosecutors do not ultimately advocate for a sentence of imprisonment for 110 years for SBF.  As explained at the end of its preliminary statement, the feds think that less than half of this term will do the trick:

The scope, duration, nature, and sheer number of Bankman-Fried’s crimes, the resulting harm they have caused, the willful disregard of the rule of law, and the absence of countervailing mitigating circumstances render him exceptionally deserving of a sentence that is sufficiently severe to provide justice for the defendant’s crimes and to dissuade others from committing similar crimes, and that will permit the defendant to return to liberty only after society can be assured that he will not have the opportunity to turn back to fraud and deceit.  Although it is unlikely (but not impossible) that the defendant will work in finance again, and will likely forfeit all of his ill-gotten gains, justice requires that he receive a prison sentence commensurate with the extraordinary dimensions of his crimes.  For these reasons, the legitimate purposes of punishment require a sentence of 40 to 50 years’ imprisonment.

Because a “split the difference” approach often serves as a reasonable first guess for a contested sentencing outcome, I am tempted to put the over/under for an imprisonment term here at 25 years.  I am not familiar enough with Judge Lewis Kaplan’s sentencing history to make a bolder prediction; folks in the comments are certainly welcome to do so.

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