The sentencing for former FTX co-CEO Ryan Salame has been rescheduled to May 28, as per a filing in the Southern District Court of New York. The reason behind the delay from the original May 1 date remains unclear.
Salame is among four FTX executives indicted by the U.S. government following the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange, alongside Sam Bankman-Fried. Unlike the others, Salame, along with former Alameda Research head Caroline Ellison, FTX co-founder Gray Wang, and top FTX engineer Nishad Singh, chose not to testify against Bankman-Fried.
Reportedly, all four executives have reached plea agreements with U.S. prosecutors. Salame is currently out on a $1 million bond.
Having pleaded guilty to federal charges linked to the FTX incident, Salame also faces campaign finance violations associated with his girlfriend Michelle Bond's unsuccessful campaign for New York State's 1st District House of Representatives. Bond, who lost the Republican primary, was supported by Salam. The charges against him could lead to a maximum of five years in prison, according to reports.
Bankman-Fried's legal team argued against charging him with campaign contribution violations, asserting that they were not part of an agreement to extradite him from the Bahamas. These charges were eventually consolidated into a conspiracy to prosecute him for fraud.
Although Salame's role in FTX's illicit activities remains somewhat ambiguous, he was reportedly not closely connected to Bankman-Fried's inner circle. Allegedly, Salame was deeply shocked by news of the exchange's collapse, to the extent that it caused physical illness. However, court records from the Bahamas later revealed that he had informed the country's Securities Commission of irregularities at the exchange in November 2022, prompting an investigation.
