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Julia Smith
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Julia Smith
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Caroline Ellison, former CEO of Alameda Research, faces sentencing in the United States Southern District of New York on September 24 for her role in the FTX collapse, as shown in court documents.
The once prominent figure in the crypto industry will appear before Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan federal courthouse at 3 p.m. EST.
Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison Faces The Music
In December 2022, Ellison admitted guilt to charges of wire fraud, money laundering, and both securities and commodities fraud.
As the ex-girlfriend of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, Ellison faces a potential total of 110 years in prison for her crimes, although there is a possibility she may avoid prison time altogether.
Ellison accepted a cooperation deal with federal prosecutors that saw her take the stand against Bankman-Fried for a whirlwind three days of testimony where she painted the one-time “king of crypto” as an image-conscious and power-hungry digital finance tycoon.
Bankman-Fried, for his part, attempted to discredit Ellison as a witness by releasing pages of her personal diary to The New York Times ahead of his trial; the move landed him behind bars after Kaplan found probable cause that he was guilty of witness tampering in August 2023.
Bankman-Fried was ultimately sentenced to 25 years in prison and ordered to pay $11 billion in forfeiture this past March, a victory the U.S. government partly finds Ellison’s assistance responsible for.
“The ‘what’ and ‘how’ of the crimes, as well as the ‘why,’ would have been difficult to prove without Ellison’s testimony,” federal prosecutors wrote in a September 17 letter to Kaplan recommending leniency for Ellison.
“The government cannot think of another cooperating witness in recent history who has received a greater level of attention and harassment,” the U.S. government letter continues. “The attendant professional consequences of this level of notoriety are obvious and unlikely to be short lived.”
Executives Responsible For FTX Collapse See Potential Jail Time
Ellison is not the only SBF associate to face legal consequences lately for participating in the massive digital asset scandal as of late.
Ryan Salame, former CEO of FTX Digital Markets, pled guilty to criminal charges stemming from his time at the doomed crypto exchange in May 2024.
The crypto executive recently attempted to rescind his original plea after he accused prosecutors of failing to stop investigating his partner, Michelle Bond, on campaign finance violations.
Bond has since been indicted, while Salame faces potential sanctions for seemingly lying under oath.
