FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried on Thursday appealed his conviction and 25-year prison sentence for stealing $8 billion from customers of the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange he founded, Reuters reported.
Defense lawyer Marc Mukasey had announced plans for the appeal to the Manhattan-based 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals during Bankman-Fried's March 28 sentencing hearing.
Bahamian authorities arrested Bankman-Fried in December of 2022 at the request of the US government. He was subsequently extradited to the US.
Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty in January to two counts of fraud and five counts of conspiracy. He was convicted in November of fraud and conspiracy.
Bankman-Fried's appeal could take years. He faces steep odds, with his lawyers needing to persuade the 2nd Circuit - and potentially the U.S. Supreme Court - that US District Judge Lewis Kaplan made significant errors that deprived Bankman-Fried of his legal rights and made the trial unfair.
The sentence imposed by Kaplan was shorter than the 40- to 50-year term that prosecutors had recommended but longer than the 5-1/4 years or fewer that Mukasey had suggested.