Prosecutors urge court to deny ex-Celsius CEO’s motion

In a filing on Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, prosecutors asked a judge to deny Alex Mashinsky’s motion to vacate his 144-month sentence, calling his legal claims “without merit” and unsupported by sworn evidence.

The filing was submitted by SDNY Attorney James McDonald and Assistant U.S. Attorney Allison Nichols. They wrote that Mashinsky “has not even submitted a sworn declaration in support of these baseless allegations, and his petition should be denied without a hearing or further fact-finding.” The prosecutors argued Mashinsky rehashed arguments from his sentencing and blamed others for Celsius’ problems.

Mashinsky told the court in May that he would represent himself and filed a pro se motion to vacate his conviction and sentence. The petition included allegations tied to the collapsed exchange FTX and to former Celsius chief revenue officer Roni Cohen-Pavon; prosecutors noted Mashinsky did not provide sworn statements to support those claims.

Mashinsky pleaded guilty to commodities fraud and securities fraud and was sentenced in May 2025 to 144 months in prison. The court ordered him to forfeit $48 million. He also agreed to a separate $10 million settlement with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.

Cohen-Pavon pleaded guilty in 2023, cooperated with prosecutors, and received a sentence of time served in May. Both men were indicted as authorities investigated Celsius, which filed for bankruptcy in 2022 amid a wider crypto market downturn.

Regulatory actions continued after the criminal case. In June the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission imposed a permanent ban on Mashinsky from trading in markets it oversees. The Securities and Exchange Commission’s civil case against him, filed in 2023, remains unresolved; the SEC informed the court on July 30 that its attorneys and Mashinsky were in settlement discussions and requested 60 days to file a status report.

As of Tuesday the judge had not issued a ruling on the prosecutors’ request to deny Mashinsky’s petition. Prosecutors asked the court to dismiss the petition without further fact-finding, arguing the new claims lack documentation and largely repeat matters addressed at sentencing.