A Manhattan federal judge rejected Sam Bankman-Fried’s request for a new trial, saying the former FTX CEO failed to show new evidence.
Judge Lewis Kaplan issued the order on Tuesday. He also criticized the request as part of a broader effort by Bankman-Fried to rebuild his public image after FTX collapsed.
“This motion appears to be one part of a plan to rescue his reputation that Bankman-Fried hatched and even committed to writing after FTX declared bankruptcy but before he was indicted,” Kaplan wrote.
Bankman-Fried co-founded FTX and led the crypto exchange before its collapse. A jury convicted him in 2023 on seven criminal charges tied to fraud and money laundering. Kaplan later sentenced him to 25 years in prison in early 2024.
Sam Bankman-Fried New Trial Request Fails in Court
Bankman-Fried filed the new trial request in February. He asked for another trial before a different judge.
The filing came while an appeals court was already reviewing his conviction and sentence. Bankman-Fried made the rare move without consulting his lawyers, according to the court order.
On Wednesday, Bankman-Fried asked to withdraw the request. He told Kaplan he did not believe he would “get a fair hearing on this topic in front of you.”
Kaplan denied that request. He then rejected Bankman-Fried’s claims about new evidence and new witnesses.
The judge said the arguments did not meet the legal standard for a new trial. In court terms, “newly discovered evidence” usually means evidence that was not known during the original trial.
Kaplan said Bankman-Fried already knew the people he now wanted to rely on. He also knew what he hoped they would say before the first trial began.
FTX Executives Named in Sam Bankman-Fried Motion
Bankman-Fried argued that three former FTX executives could challenge the government’s case. He said they could counter claims about FTX’s financial condition before its collapse.
The names included Ryan Salame, former CEO of FTX’s Bahamian arm, and Daniel Chapsky, FTX’s former head of data science. Neither testified at Bankman-Fried’s trial.
Bankman-Fried also pointed to Nishad Singh, FTX’s former engineering lead. Singh reached a plea deal with prosecutors and testified against Bankman-Fried during the trial.
Bankman-Fried claimed Singh changed his testimony “following threats from the government.” Kaplan rejected that claim in direct language.
The judge wrote that the argument was “wildly conspiratorial and entirely contradicted by the record.”
Kaplan also said Bankman-Fried could have tried to compel testimony from the three witnesses during the trial. However, he did not do so.
Judge Lewis Kaplan Rejects FTX Evidence Claims
Kaplan called Bankman-Fried’s claims about the three witnesses “baseless on multiple independently sufficient levels.”
“None of the witnesses, for example, is ‘newly discovered.’ Bankman-Fried well before trial knew all three of them and purportedly knew also what he hoped they would say were they to testify,” Kaplan wrote.
The order also addressed Bankman-Fried’s claim that the witnesses could dispute the government’s arguments about FTX insolvency.
Insolvency means a company cannot meet its financial obligations. In the FTX case, prosecutors argued that the exchange lacked enough funds because customer money moved to Alameda Research.
Alameda Research was the trading firm linked to Bankman-Fried. Prosecutors said FTX customer money funded Alameda’s risky trades and other spending.
The jury found that Bankman-Fried illegally transferred billions of dollars of customer funds from FTX to Alameda. Those transfers became central to the criminal case.
Sam Bankman-Fried Remains in Federal Prison
Bankman-Fried’s conviction covered seven criminal charges. The charges related to fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering.
The case followed the collapse of FTX, once one of the largest crypto exchanges. Its failure left customers unable to access large amounts of money.
Ryan Salame, one of the former executives named in Bankman-Fried’s motion, separately pleaded guilty in his own case.
Salame admitted to violating campaign finance laws and operating an illegal money transmitting business. He received a seven and a half year prison sentence in May 2024.
Bankman-Fried remains in federal custody. He is being held at a federal prison in Lompoc, California.
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Tatevik Avetisyan is an editor at Kriptoworld who covers emerging crypto trends, blockchain innovation, and altcoin developments. She is passionate about breaking down complex stories for a global audience and making digital finance more accessible.
📅 Published: April 29, 2026 • 🕓 Last updated: April 29, 2026

