Sam Bankman-Fried’s failure to read social cues — in behavior exhibited by people on the autism spectrum — will put him in “extreme danger” in prison, the convicted crypto fraudster’s mother warned a New York court ahead of his sentencing next month.
“I genuinely fear for Sam’s life in the typical prison environment,” wrote Stanford Law professor Barbara Fried in court papers submitted as part of the fallen crypto king’s bid to be sentenced to no more than 6.5 years in prison.
“It may be that some of the inmates will come to appreciate Sam once they get to know him. But miscommunication in that environment is dangerous, and Sam’s traits greatly increase the likelihood of its occurring,” Fried added in the filing late Tuesday.
The jailed crypto ace’s behavior “can seem odd and off-putting to people that don’t know him,” Fried wrote in the six-page letter addressed to Manhattan federal court Judge Lewis Kaplan.
Bankman-Fried, 32, “has a number of mannerisms that are associated with high-functioning people with ASD,” his mother wrote, referring to Autism Spectrum Disorder.
“He is bad at responding to social cues in ‘normal’ ways, uncomfortable looking people in the eye, uncomfortable with outward shows of emotion,” Fried added.
“The broader public was charmed by many of his eccentricities — or at least pretended to be — while he was on top of the world. The moment he fell, the same public became merciless, ridiculing his awkward traits and verbal style, taking them as a sign of duplicity or worse, and portraying him as a freak with evil intentions,” Fried went on.
“The media’s weapon of choice is words. The same cannot be said for prisons.”
Bankman-Fried faces up to 110 years at his March 28 sentencing on his fraud conviction for stealing $10 billion from customers of his crypto exchange FTX to plug debts at his hedge fund.
A Manhattan federal jury found him guilty in just four hours of all of the charges he’d faced after a month-long trial where Bankman-Fried made the rare and risky choice to testify in his own defense.
The disgraced mogul coolly testified during his three days on the stand that he “regretted” allowing his hedge fund Alameda Research to “borrow” billions in FTX user funds — but did not show any outward emotion or apologize for the funds vanishing.
Bankman-Fried also said over and over on the witness stand at the Manhattan federal court trial that he did not “recall” evidence related to his exchange’s November 2022 implosion — or even his repeated promises to safeguard user funds.
Follow the latest on Sam Bankman-Fried ahead of his fraud sentencing:
- Sam Bankman-Fried’s failure to read social cues puts him in ‘extreme danger’ in prison — with his mom ‘genuinely’ fearing for his life
- Sam Bankman-Fried says 63 to 78 months should guide sentencing for FTX fraud
- Sam Bankman-Fried extorted, harassed by jailhouse snitches working for the feds: ex-cop
- ‘Gangster’ Sam Bankman-Fried pictured in jail, poses alongside Bloods members who call him ‘weird as s–t’
- Sam Bankman-Fried paid jailhouse inmate for haircut using mackerel as currency: report
Bankman-Fried’s father, Joseph Bankman, who also teaches at Stanford Law School, wrote his own letter claiming that his son would be in “significant physical danger” if handed a lengthy prison sentence.
“Nothing he has done can justify putting him at that risk,” Bankman wrote.
Bankman-Fried’s new attorney Marc Mukasey called the 110-year maximum sentence that the convicted fraudster is facing “grotesque,” while calling for him to serve 63-to-78 months — or 5.25 to 6.5 years — instead.
Bankman-Fried also suffers from a condition known as “anhedodia,” which is “characterized by a near-complete absence of enjoyment, motivation, and interest,” Mukasey wrote as part of the legal filing,
“Those who know Sam are sensitive to the tragic fact that nothing in life brings him real
happiness,” Mukasey added.
Federal prosecutors are expected to make their own sentencing recommendation in the coming weeks.
