Sam Bankman-Fried will likely appear in a suit and tie at trial
A federal judge has granted a motion from the legal team for Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) allowing the former FTX CEO to wear business attire during his first criminal trial.
In a Sept. 27 order filed in United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Judge Lewis Kaplan said the United States Marshals Service and the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn would make arrangements for SBF to wear business attire for the duration of his criminal trial starting in October. Authorities will be responsible for “accept[ing] and maintain[ing]” 3 full suits, 4 dress shirts, 3 ties, 1 belt, 4 pairs of socks, 2 pairs of shoes, and “appropriate undergarments”.
Bankman-Fried wearing a suit and tie will stand in sharp contrast to many of his public appearances prior to his arrest in December 2022. The then FTX CEO was well known for donning a T-shirt or hoodie, cargo shorts and sneakers. In hearings following his arrest, Bankman-Fried often came to court wearing a suit, though not always a tie.
In a separate order, Kaplan said SBF would also be allowed to use an “air-gapped” laptop while in court “solely in order to take notes”. The former FTX CEO’s defense team is scheduled to again argue for SBF’s early release in a Sept. 28 hearing, having already lost 2 appeals with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Related: ‘You can commit fraud in shorts and T-shirts in the sun,’ says SDNY attorney on SBF indictment
The judge’s order came with less than 7 days until the start of Bankman-Fried’s criminal trial in New York, scheduled for Oct. 3. He will faces 7 counts related to fraud during his time at FTX and Alameda Research, and 5 additional counts in a separate trial scheduled for March 2024. Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
In a Sept. 26 pretrial ruling, Judge Kaplan said prosecutors will be allowed to provide the jury with details of SBF’s political donations related to existing fraud charges. Officials had originally indicted Bankman-Fried with violations of campaign finance laws, but were forced to drop the charge due to U.S. “treaty obligations to the Bahamas”, from where the former FTX CEO had been extradited in December 2022.
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Update (Sept. 27 at 6:50 PM UTC): This article has been updated to include Judge Kaplan’s order on an air-gapped latop.
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