A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit unanimously upheld FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried's fraud and conspiracy convictions on June 12, 2026, affirming his 25-year prison sentence in full [1][2]. The panel described the evidence against Bankman-Fried as "conservatively stated, robust," rejecting each of the defense's arguments for reversal [1]. The ruling represents the most significant appellate checkpoint since his trial concluded in November 2023 [2].
Bankman-Fried was convicted on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy following a trial in the Southern District of New York before U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan [2][3]. Prosecutors established that he misappropriated approximately $8 billion in customer funds held on the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, routing assets through Alameda Research, the affiliated trading firm he also controlled [1][3]. The trial produced testimony from several cooperating co-founders and executives, whose accounts formed the backbone of the government's case against him [2].
On appeal, the defense argued that Judge Kaplan improperly restricted certain evidence, rendering the trial proceedings fundamentally unfair [1][2]. The Second Circuit panel, which included Judge Barrington D. Parker, rejected those arguments, finding the evidentiary rulings within the trial court's discretion and the record amply sufficient to support the jury's verdict [1]. The panel did not disturb the sentencing analysis or the 25-year term, one of the longest imposed in a white-collar case in recent memory [3].
The ruling closes Bankman-Fried's direct appeal as a matter of right. His remaining options are a petition for rehearing before the full Second Circuit, sitting en banc, or a petition for a writ of certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court [1][2]. Both paths carry low statistical odds of success. A cert petition would require Bankman-Fried to identify a circuit split or a substantial federal question the Supreme Court has not resolved, a difficult showing on a fact-intensive fraud record [2]. Absent relief from one of those two bodies, Bankman-Fried, currently 34 years old, would not be eligible for release until his early 60s.