Ryan Salame Seeks to Void Guilty Plea in Criminal Case
A former top executive at the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX, Ryan Salame, is attempting to overturn his guilty plea in a high-profile criminal case involving campaign finance and money transmitting offenses.
Salame, who was handed a 7.5-year prison sentence in May, alleges that federal prosecutors failed to uphold their end of the bargain by continuing to investigate his partner, Michelle Bond, despite an agreement not to do so if he pleaded guilty.
According to Salame’s legal team, he is claiming that the government had assured him during plea negotiations that they would cease investigating Bond for potential campaign finance violations if he admitted to the charges against him.
However, Salame now asserts that the government has backtracked on this promise and resumed its inquiry into Bond’s activities, prompting him to seek to revoke his guilty plea.
Contentions and Counterarguments
Salame’s defense team contends that the government should honor its commitment by either dropping any charges against Bond or allowing Salame to retract his guilty plea, citing the coercive nature of the plea negotiations as a basis for voiding the plea.
They argue that the prosecution’s use of a third party as leverage to secure Salame’s admission of guilt was improper and constituted undue coercion, warranting the annulment of his plea.
The former FTX Digital Markets co-CEO was convicted on charges of conspiring to make illegal political contributions, defraud the Federal Election Commission, and run an unlicensed money-transmitting business.
His sentence includes serving time starting October 13 and making substantial payments in forfeitures and restitution totaling over $11 million.
The investigation into Bond, a former congressional candidate, stemmed from contributions made to her campaign for the Republican primary in New York’s first congressional district in 2022, focusing on financial support Salame provided and loans Bond extended to her campaign.
Response from the Prosecution
In response to Salame’s petition, the U.S. Attorney’s Office has refuted his assertions, labeling them as self-serving and inaccurate. Prosecutors maintain that Salame was explicitly advised that his guilty plea would not halt the investigation into Bond’s actions.
Salame’s allegations coincide with his impending commencement of the prison term later this year, distinguishing him from other FTX executives like Caroline Ellison, Nishad Singh, and Gary Wang, who cooperated with authorities or testified against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried.
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