FTX Executives See Prison Sentences Reduced – Report

Two high profile executives who were jailed last year over their roles in the high profile collapse of crypto exchange FTX, have reportedly had time shaved off their prison sentences.

CNN reported that Ryan Salame and Caroline Ellison, both of whom were convicted for their roles in the crypto fraud led by their former boss Sam Bankman-Fried, have seen their prison sentences reduced.

FTX had collapsed into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection back in November 2022, when a multi-billion dollar hole was found in its balance sheet, in what US prosecutors described as one of the biggest financial frauds in American history.

Convictions, prison sentences

After a notable trial in the United States, CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was eventually sentenced to 25 years in prison.

He is currently appealing the verdict and sentence.

Caroline Ellison (previously Alameda’s chief executive and former girlfriend of Bankman-Fried) had pleaded guilty in December 2022 to seven felony counts of fraud and conspiracy, and had agreed to co-operate with the US investigation and she testified as a prosecution witness.

Despite this co-operation, in September 2024 Ellison was sentenced to two years in prison for her role, which she began serving in November 204 when she reported to a low-security federal prison in the suburbs of Connecticut.

Two other executives and former close associates also testified as prosecution witnesses at the trial that Bankman-Fried had directed them to use FTX customer funds to plug losses at Alameda Research.

This included Gary Wang the former chief technology officer at FTX, and Nishad Singh, the former engineering director at FTX.

Gary Wang was spared prison late last year, due to him being the first person to co-operate with US authorities after FTX collapsed.

Nishad Singh was also spared prison, as the judge found his involvement “was much more limited than, certainly, Bankman-Fried and Ellison”.

However Ryan Salame, a former FTX executive who did not co-operate with US prosecutors, was sentenced to 7-1/2 years in prison in May 2024 after pleading guilty to making unlawful campaign donations to causes supported by Bankman-Fried.

Reduced sentences

But now CNN reported that Salame (who had begun his prison sentence in October 2024) is now listed by the Federal Bureau of Prisons with a release date as 1 March 2031, which is more than a year earlier than his initial release date in April 2032.

Meanwhile Ellison’s current release date is listed as 20 July 2026, three months earlier than her initial release date.

Bankman-Fried does not have a release date listed on the prisons website, CNN noted.

The Bureau of Prisons didn’t immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.

However, in previous statements about early release dates, the bureau told CNN that it does not comment on the conditions of any individual inmate, but inmates can earn good conduct time that is calculated into their projected release date.