Sam Bankman-Fried told a federal court he doesn’t expect a fair hearing from the judge overseeing his criminal case — and has withdrawn his bid for a new trial as a result.
In a letter filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the former FTX CEO formally pulled a Rule 33 motion seeking to overturn his 2023 conviction on fraud and related charges tied to the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange. He did so “without prejudice,” meaning he can refile the motion after two parallel matters are resolved: his pending appeal and his effort to have a different judge assigned to the case.
Bankman-Fried, 32, is serving a 25-year sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution in Lompoc, California. At its peak, FTX was one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges; its collapse sparked multiple criminal cases and civil suits that reshaped regulatory and market dynamics across the industry.
Why he withdrew
The decision came after Judge Lewis Kaplan ordered Bankman-Fried to explain whether outside lawyers had helped draft an earlier pro se filing — a document submitted by the defendant without formal legal counsel. Federal prosecutors flagged concerns after Bankman-Fried’s mother, Barbara Fried, separately wrote to the court despite having no legal standing to do so.
In his response to the court, Bankman-Fried acknowledged consulting with his parents while preparing the pro se submission but maintained he was the “ultimate author of the documents.” He said responding to the judge’s questions had diverted time he needed to prepare a fuller opposition to prosecutors’ arguments against a new trial. Coupled with his stated belief that Judge Kaplan would not rule fairly, he withdrew the Rule 33 motion for now.
Ongoing litigation and political outreach
The effort to remove Judge Kaplan predates this latest filing. In February, Bankman-Fried asked the court to assign a different judge, accusing Kaplan of “extreme prejudice.” That recusal request remains active, as does his appeal of both his conviction and sentence before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Outside the courtroom, Bankman-Fried has signaled interest in a presidential pardon. He has publicly praised former President Donald Trump’s crypto policies and foreign-policy moves, but Trump has indicated he has no plans to pardon the convicted founder, according to a January interview with The New York Times.
Bottom line: Bankman-Fried has temporarily shelved his bid for a new trial but preserved the right to revive it. The case’s next steps hinge on the appeal and the pending motion to have a different judge decide the new-trial request.
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