A federal judge denied Sam Bankman-Fried’s motion for a new trial on Tuesday, rejecting claims of new evidence and refusing to let the former FTX chief withdraw the request first.
Key Takeaways:
Judge Lewis Kaplan denied Sam Bankman-Fried’s (SBF) Rule 33 motion on April 28, 2026, calling the new evidence claims “baseless.” The ruling closes the district court chapter for SBF, who still faces a live Second Circuit appeal from his 25-year sentence. SBF’s judicial reassignment request against Judge Kaplan remains pending, keeping one legal avenue open for the defense. SBF Denied New TrialProsecutors pushed back hard in March 2026, arguing the claims had no merit. Judge Kaplan agreed, finding that the purported new evidence would not likely produce an acquittal given the weight of proof presented at trial.
The judge denied that request, too, and ruled on the motion anyway.
Bankman-Fried’s letter also addressed questions the court had raised about who wrote the filing. He denied improper ghostwriting but acknowledged that his mother, Barbara Fried, provided editorial suggestions and helped print the document. Judge Kaplan had scrutinized the submission because Fried is not a licensed attorney.
His direct appeal is pending before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, with oral arguments held in 2025. That case remains active and is separate from the Rule 33 motion Judge Kaplan just denied.
A request to have Judge Kaplan removed from the case on bias grounds is also still pending. Bankman-Fried reserved the right to refile the new trial motion once that reassignment request and his direct appeal are resolved.
For now, his 25-year sentence stands. No changes to his incarceration status have been ordered.
The latest ruling closes the district court door on this particular legal effort, though Bankman-Fried retains options at the appellate level. How the Second Circuit handles his direct appeal will likely shape what comes next.
