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A judge agreed to a request by prosecutors to keep it secret that two of Sam Bankman-Fried’s executive associates had turned against him so that the cryptocurrency entrepreneur would agree not to fight extradition from the Bahamas to the United States, according to transcripts of plea deals made public Friday.
U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams said during plea proceedings Monday in Manhattan that transcripts of the pleas could remain sealed until Bankman-Fried reached New York.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams announced the guilty pleas and cooperation deals by Carolyn Ellison, 28, and Gary Wang, 29, while Bankman-Fried flew to a Westchester County airport late Wednesday in the custody of FBI agents.
Bankman-Fried, 30, appeared in Manhattan federal court on Thursday, when he was released on $250 million bail after an electronic monitoring bracelet was attached to him and he agreed to live with his parents in Palo Alto, California, while awaiting trial.
Ellison, the former chief executive of Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency hedge fund trading firm, Alameda Research, and Wang, a founder of FTX, the crypto exchange, agreed to testify against Bankman-Fried in connection with their pleas.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon told Abrams during Ellison’s plea Monday afternoon that prosecutors had expected Bankman-Fried to consent to extradition on Monday before there were “some hiccups in the Bahamian courtroom.”
“We’re still expecting extradition soon, but given that he has not yet entered his consent, we think it could potentially thwart our law enforcement objectives to extradite him if Ms. Ellison’s cooperation were disclosed at this time,” Sassoon told Abrams.
The judge got assurance from Ellison’s defense lawyer that there was no objection to the request before granting it.
“Exposure of cooperation could hinder law enforcement officials‘ ability to continue the ongoing investigation and, in addition, may affect Mr.
