The strength of Ellison's testimony against Bankman-Fried also likely played a big role in convincing the judge to grant leniency, said Paul Tuchmann, a former U.S. prosecutor and partner at the law firm Wiggin and Dana.
Testifying at Bankman-Fried’s criminal trial in October 2023, Ellison described her former lover as the driving force behind the FTX fraud. On the stand, she portrayed Bankman-Fried as forceful and calculating, describing for the jury his various deceptions, the careful grooming of his public image and his warped relationship with risk. Bankman-Fried “had no qualms at all about taking a risk as long as he thought it had a positive expected value,” Ellison said, under cross-examination by the prosecution. “He talked about being willing to accept big coin tosses, like a coin toss where if it comes up tails, you might lose $10 million, but if it comes up heads, you might make a little over $10 million.”
Ellison wept on the witness stand as she recalled her “state of fear,” wracked with guilt over the stolen funds, and the perverse relief she felt as FTX began to unravel. “It was something I thought about every day, worrying about what would happen when the truth finally came out,” Ellison said. “I felt a sense of relief that I didn't have to lie anymore.”
“In these types of cases, it’s usually so important for the prosecution to have someone who is close to the main suspect that you’re trying, who the jury can bring in,” Tuchmann says. “She was an incredibly valuable witness in a hugely important case.”
The judge took that cooperation into account. “I’ve seen a lot of collaborators in 30 years. I’ve never seen one like Ms. Ellison,” Kaplan said. It was “remarkable” that there was “not a single instance” in which Ellison’s testimony and interviews with law enforcement differed from the physical evidence in the case, he said.
Ellison's costs likely also played a role in the judge's leniency. “In this case, you had something close to intimidation [of Ellison] because of the very large amount of press attention to the case. Then you had the fact that her personal, romantic life was revealed to the world – which would be very painful for everyone,” says Tuchmann. “You can get more credit if the collaboration has consequences. The consequences for her were huge.”
As Ellison prepares to begin her time behind bars, other members of the FTX inner circle await their own sentences. Former FTX executives Nishad Singh and Gary Wang, who both pleaded guilty to fraud, are scheduled to be sentenced on October 30 and November 20, respectively.
Meanwhile, in an attempt to avoid his own lengthy prison sentence, Bankman-Fried is pushing for a new trial. “Sam Bankman-Fried was never presumed innocent … He was presumed guilty by the judge who presided over his trial,” his lawyers wrote in a filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals. But the chances of overturning the conviction are slim, and the decision to fight the charges against him to the bitter end — unlike Ellison and the other accomplices — may still prove fruitless.
“Kaplan is a highly respected judge, particularly in complex white-collar cases. The theme of the brief — that he got it all wrong — is a very difficult argument to make,” Naftalis said. “The appeal is a long shot.”
As people filed out of the courtroom Tuesday, Ellison’s two younger sisters were visible, but silent, crying next to their parents. One of Ellison’s attorneys touched her back to comfort her. Ellison didn’t move.
Additional reporting by Caroline Haskins.
