Bipartisan Senators Oppose Clemency for SBF

Senators Rubén Gallego (D-Ariz.) and Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), the top Democrat and Republican on the Senate Banking Subcommittee on Digital Assets, filed a bipartisan, non-binding resolution Wednesday opposing any presidential pardon, commutation or other federal clemency for Sam Bankman-Fried.

The measure states that Bankman-Fried should not receive clemency, affirms the integrity of the jury’s verdict and rejects his claim that the prosecution was politically motivated.

Gallego argued Bankman-Fried had shown “no remorse” and urged that he remain behind bars. Lummis said he had his day in court and was “chasing clemency he hasn’t earned.”

Bankman-Fried was convicted in November 2023 on seven fraud and conspiracy counts after the collapse of FTX in November 2022. In March 2024, Judge Lewis Kaplan sentenced him to 25 years in prison and ordered roughly $11 billion in forfeiture. Prosecutors say FTX customers lost more than $8 billion.

Days before the resolution was filed, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the conviction and sentence. Under current timing, the sentence would keep Bankman-Fried incarcerated through 2044.

This month Bankman-Fried submitted a formal petition to the Justice Department’s Office of the Pardon Attorney seeking a “pardon after completion of sentence.” The petition remains under review.

President Trump has publicly said he does not plan to grant clemency to Bankman-Fried. Sponsors of the resolution noted that several high-profile defendants tied to the digital-asset industry have received clemency in the past.

Supporters of the resolution cited the unanimous jury verdict and the magnitude of losses suffered by FTX customers. Critics of clemency warned that political intervention after conviction could affect enforcement of federal financial laws related to digital assets.

Prediction markets and legal analysts place the odds of a presidential pardon in the low single digits. Any final decision on clemency would rest with the president.