Sam Bankman‑Fried has quietly paused a push for a new trial while keeping his broader legal battle very much alive.
In a filing this week in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the former FTX CEO withdrew a Rule 33 motion seeking a new trial — but did so “without prejudice,” meaning he can revive the request later. Rule 33 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure is the mechanism by which a convicted defendant can ask a court to order a new trial.
The move comes after Judge Lewis Kaplan asked Bankman‑Fried to clarify whether lawyers had helped prepare an earlier pro se submission. Prosecutors had flagged concerns that the jailhouse filing might not have been drafted solely by Bankman‑Fried. In response, SBF said he authored the letter himself but acknowledged consulting his parents about it because it involved them. He also wrote that he spent time answering the court’s questions rather than preparing a fuller response and said he did not believe he would get “a fair hearing on this topic” before Judge Kaplan.
Although the specific new‑trial motion has been shelved for now, Bankman‑Fried has not abandoned efforts to change who oversees any future Rule 33 filing. He earlier asked for reassignment, accusing Judge Kaplan of “extreme prejudice,” and that request remains active. Separately, his direct appeal of the 2023 conviction is pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Bankman‑Fried is serving a 25‑year sentence after a jury found him guilty on seven fraud and conspiracy counts tied to the collapse of crypto exchange FTX. Prosecutors allege he stole roughly $8 billion in customer funds; his post‑trial filings have continued to dispute key aspects of the government’s case. In February, his motion for a new trial argued that later evidence and omitted testimony undercut the prosecution’s account of FTX’s finances — an argument now put on hold while the other legal tracks proceed.
Bottom line: the specific bid for a new trial is paused, but SBF’s appeal and his push for a different judge remain active, keeping the legal saga that reshaped the crypto industry far from over.
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