FTX Fraudster Caroline Ellison Sentenced To 2 Years In Prison
Other FTX executives, Gary Wang and Nishad Singh, are set to be sentenced later this year after also pleading guilty.
Caroline Ellison, former CEO of Alameda Research and a key figure in the FTX scandal, was sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to forfeit $11 billion by a federal court in Manhattan. Ellison, who played a pivotal role in the downfall of the $32 billion cryptocurrency exchange, was the star witness in the prosecution of her former boyfriend, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried.
Judge Lewis Kaplan praised Ellison’s extensive cooperation, which led to Bankman-Fried’s conviction on fraud charges, but insisted that her sentence needed to send a message to deter future financial crimes. "A literal get-out-of-jail-free card I can’t agree to," Kaplan stated, adding that the FTX collapse was likely the largest financial fraud in U.S. history.
Ellison's sentence was harsher than the federal Probation Department's recommendation, which proposed no prison time. Despite this, the judge acknowledged her genuine remorse, as Ellison tearfully apologized in court for her actions and for not distancing herself from Bankman-Fried. She will remain free on bail until her surrender in November.
Ellison had pled guilty in December 2022 to conspiracy and fraud charges related to the misuse of customer funds from FTX to support Alameda Research’s trading operations. Her cooperation with authorities was crucial in securing the conviction of Bankman-Fried, who is serving a 25-year prison sentence and is also facing an $11 billion forfeiture order.
