Sam Bankman-Fried Withdraws New Trial Request

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has withdrawn his request for a new trial in federal court, expressing doubts about receiving a fair hearing before the presiding judge. The filing, submitted on Wednesday to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, preserves his option to refile the motion after decisions on his ongoing appeal and a separate request for judicial reassignment.

Bankman-Fried, who is serving a 25-year prison sentence following his November 2023 conviction on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy, made the decision in a pro se letter to Judge Lewis A. Kaplan. The letter responded to the judge's March order seeking clarification on whether Bankman-Fried had received legal assistance in preparing an earlier extension request for the Rule 33 motion, which allows for a new trial based on new evidence or in the interest of justice. Prosecutors had questioned the motion's origins, noting that Bankman-Fried's mother, Barbara Fried, had submitted a letter on his behalf despite lacking legal standing.

In the letter, Bankman-Fried confirmed he authored the document himself while incarcerated at the Metropolitan...