Prosecutors on Friday recommended a prison term of 40 to 50 years for Sam Bankman-Fried after his **conviction** on seven charges of fraud and conspiracy. The former billionaire was found guilty of stealing $8 billion from his customers at the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, now bankrupt. During the ever-changing proceedings, Bankman-Fried remained **defiant**, refusing to admit wrongdoings. His lawyers, on the other hand, argued that a term of 5-1/4 to 6-1/2 years would be more suitable. They **contend** that Bankman-Fried’s initial motive was not theft, and that most of the customers’ money would be returned.
Born to Stanford Law School professors, Bankman-Fried was a bright and erstwhile successful entrepreneur. His early career on Wall Street and later riding the **cryptocurrency boom**, earned him a substantial fortune once estimated at $26 billion by Forbes. However, his empire crumbled in November 2022 after FTX declared bankruptcy following a wave of customer withdrawals.
Bankman-Fried’s connected lifestyle and elite education were underlined by the prosecutors as reasons for a harsher sentence, as they thought his deeds showcased pernicious megalomania. His trial lasted a month and in the aftermath, he plans to appeal both his conviction and sentencing.
Prosecutors claim that he misused customers’ funds for personal benefits, like buying luxury real estate and making political donations. His **incarceration** started in August when he was arrested in the Bahamas, denied bail, and extradited to the United States.
Vocabulary:
1. Conviction – a formal declaration that someone is guilty of a criminal offense, made by the verdict of a jury or the decision of a judge in a court of law.
2. Defiant – showing resistance or disobedience, often against authority.
3. Contend – to assert something as a position in an argument or competition.
4. Cryptocurrency – a digital currency in which transactions are verified and records are maintained by a decentralized system using cryptography, rather than by a centralized authority.
5. Incarceration – the state of being confined in prison; imprisonment.
Vocabulary List:
- Conviction (noun): A formal declaration that someone is guilty of a criminal offensemade by the verdict of a jury or the decision of a judge in a court of law.
- Defiant (adjective): Showing resistance or disobedienceoften against authority.
- Contend (verb): To assert something as a position in an argument or competition.
- Cryptocurrency (noun): A digital currency in which transactions are verified and records are maintained by a decentralized system using cryptographyrather than by a centralized authority.
- Incarceration (noun): The state of being confined in prison imprisonment.
- Megalomania (noun): A mental illness in which a person has exaggerated ideas about their own importance or power.
