A US judge has reportedly accused embattled former FTX CEO Ryan Salame of giving false testimony during his guilty plea last year.
District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan indicated in court Thursday that he may have to impose a sanction on Salame, although he did not specify what that punishment might look like, according to a new report from CNBC.
Kaplan allegedly said Salame “instigated” him to agree to the former FTX executive’s guilty plea.
“You’re asking me to uphold a conviction and sentence that I now know is based on false testimony before me in the plea bargain… And that could be a big problem.”
On Thursday, Salame allegedly lied in court during his plea hearing last year, when he said prosecutors had promised him nothing in exchange for his plea.
Salame, the former co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets, the Bahamian subsidiary of the bankrupt crypto exchange, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to make unlawful political contributions and to defraud the Federal Election Commission, as well as to conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmission company to run.
In May, Kaplan sentenced Salame to 7.5 years in prison, and he is due to report to prison in October.
In a petition to the court last month, Salame claimed he made a deal with the government and pleaded guilty to avoid further investigation into the mother of his child, Michelle Bond, a former congressional candidate.
A few days later, Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced charges against Bond for alleged campaign finance violations related to her failed 2022 run for Congress.
Williams said in a criminal complaint that Salame orchestrated a $400,000 sham payment to Bond from FTX, which Bond allegedly used to finance her campaign.
Salame’s lawyers alleged that the government used the former CEO’s negotiations to threaten Bond and get Salame to plead guilty. Salame first asked the court to dismiss Bond’s charges, but if that didn’t happen, to dismiss his own conviction and guilty plea.
However, the prosecutor shot back, calling Salame’s accusation “demonstrably false” in a response.
“Salame completely omits the fact that the government had a virtual follow-up meeting with Salame’s lawyers on May 25, 2023, to clarify the status of its investigation into Michelle Bond – whom Salame’s lawyers also represented – and to avoid any doubt. , that a guilty plea by Salame would not halt any ongoing investigation into Bond’s conduct.”
Salame’s attorneys later filed a motion to withdraw the former FTX executive’s petition so Bond could raise the issue in her case.
However, Salame’s legal team did not recant his previous allegations.
“For the avoidance of doubt, Mr. Salame stands by the facts set forth in the petition and his accompanying affidavit. However, Mr. Salame withdraws the petition so that Ms. Bond can develop the facts and make a ruling in her case.”
On Thursday, Kaplan said in court that he would take time to consider the matter and what needs to be done, according to CNBC.
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