Ellison, a former top executive for Sam Bankman-Friend’s crypto hedge fund, was sentenced Tuesday for fraud.
Caroline Ellison, a former top executive at Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX cryptocurrency exchange, was sentenced Tuesday to 24 months for her role in a multibillion-dollar fraud involving the bankrupt company.
Ellison, 29, pleaded guilty nearly two years ago and Bankman-Fried for nearly three days at his trial on multiple fraud charges last November. In her emotional testimony, she blamed Bankman-Fried for justifying FTX’s illegal conduct and said she had felt relief when the company collapsed because she « didn’t have to lie anymore. »
U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan said Ellison’s cooperation in the case was « very, very substantial » and praised her testimony, saying he saw no inconsistencies with documents shown to the jury or things she had previously told prosecutors.
But Kaplan said a prison sentence was warranted because Ellison had participated in what he said might be the « greatest financial fraud ever perpetrated in this country. » As a result, her cooperation with prosecutors should not serve as a get-out-of-jail-free card, Kaplan said.
