Full Breakdown
Judge Denies Sam Bankman-Fried’s Request for a New Trial
4/30/2026, 3:13:58 AM
Core Event: Motion for a New Trial Rejected
On April 28, 2026, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan denied Sam Bankman-Fried’s request for a new trial on the FTX fraud convictions, calling the motion “wildly conspiratorial” and a “large waste of judicial resources.”
Background & Context
FTX founder Bankman-Fried was convicted in November 2023 on seven counts—including wire, securities, commodities fraud and money laundering—for moving billions of customer funds to Alameda Research. He received a 25-year sentence, a $11 billion forfeiture order, and the case was labeled one of the largest U.S. financial frauds.
Key Figures & Groups
- Sam Bankman-Fried – defendant filing the motion pro se, with drafts shared with his parents and Stanford law professors.
- Judge Lewis Kaplan – presiding judge who denied the motion.
- Former FTX executives – Ryan Salame, Daniel Chapsky, Nishad Singh, cited as potential witnesses.
- Alexandra Shapiro – appellate counsel before the Second Circuit.
Data & Statistics
- Conviction on seven counts.
- 25-year prison term.
- $11 billion forfeiture order.
- Ryan Salame’s separate 7½-year sentence for campaign-finance violations.
- No newly discovered evidence identified.
Official Statements & Responses
Kaplan rejected Bankman-Fried’s claim that the three former executives were “newly discovered” witnesses, noting the defendant knew them before trial and could have compelled their testimony. He also called the alleged government intimidation “wildly conspiratorial and entirely contradicted by the record.” Bankman-Fried argued the witnesses could prove FTX’s solvency and that threats blocked their testimony; the court found no evidence.
Criticism & Opposition
Kaplan said the motion was “one part of a plan to rescue his reputation” crafted after FTX’s bankruptcy and warned that a new trial would force a new judge to master an “extensive and complicated record,” wasting judicial resources.
Conflicting Reports & Gaps
Bankman-Fried maintains that government threats silenced the three potential witnesses, a claim the judge found unsupported. No source corroborates the alleged intimidation, leaving the allegation unverified.
Verbatim Quotes
- “None of the witnesses, for example, is ‘newly discovered.’ Bankman-Fried well before trial knew all three of them and purportedly knew also what he hoped they would say were they to testify.” — Judge Lewis Kaplan
- “He could have obtained or at least sought to compel their testimony. But he did neither.” — Judge Lewis Kaplan
- “This motion appears to be one part of a plan to rescue his reputation that Bankman-Fried hatched and even committed to writing after FTX declared bankruptcy but before he was indicted,” — Judge Lewis Kaplan
- “his out-of-court, unsworn statements could not come anywhere close to clearing the bar to warrant a new trial,” — Judge Lewis Kaplan
What’s Next
Bankman-Fried’s appeal proceeds before the Second Circuit, where Alexandra Shapiro represents him. The judge’s order ends the new-trial request; further relief would require a successful appellate ruling, a habeas petition, or a presidential pardon—outcomes deemed unlikely.
