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A top executive at FTX has been jailed over his connections to the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange, making him the first of disgraced founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s inner circle to also face time behind bars.
Ryan Salame, 30, was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years on Tuesday after pleading guilty last year to a campaign finance law violation and a charge of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business.
He was one of four top deputies in the FTX crypto empire who have pleaded guilty to crimes since the company fell apart in November 2022.
Salame’s sentence exceeded the five to seven years that prosecutors had recommended, according to The New York Times. Defense lawyers had requested an 18-month sentence.
Prior to FTX’s collapse, Salame was a key figure at the exchange and one of Bankman-Fried’s top lieutenants, overseeing its subsidiary in the Bahamas, where the company was based.
Like other top ranking FTX executives, Salame enjoyed expensive cars and private jets, and bought restaurants in the Berkshires, Massachusetts. According to The Times, he also spent more than $24m on the 2022 midterm elections, mostly donating to campaigns of Republican candidates.
Ryan Salame was sentenced in New York on Tuesday (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
In September 2023, Salame admitted that he had acted as an illegal “straw donor” at the direction of Bankman-Fried to evade federal disclosure requirements. A “straw donor” is someone who uses someone else’s money to make a political contribution.
In a sentencing memo to Judge Lewis A Kaplan on Tuesday, prosecutors called it “one of the largest ever” campaign finance offenses in American history, The Times reported.
As part of his plea deal, Salame agreed to pay a $6m fine and more than $5m in restitution, and to forfeit two properties in Massachusetts as well as his Porsche. In the sentencing memo, prosecutors argued that Salame was motivated by a desire for money and influence….
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