The SBF lawsuit has entered its final stage, with both the prosecution and defense presenting closing arguments yesterday.
Prosecutor firmly asserts guilt: it’s fraud
Defense plays emotional card
SBF faces up to 115 years in prison
Assistant prosecutor Nicolas Roos showed the jury a chart that was presented as evidence of guilt, and stated in his closing argument to the jury:
Suggesting this series of actions was not an accident, but a premeditated, long-term plan by SBF. In addition, Nicolas Roos also emphasized that all three core executives involved in the case accused SBF of being the main culprit, and if the jury believes any one of them, SBF can be convicted.
In contrast to the prosecution’s stern accusations, the defense played the emotional card in their closing argument, attempting to convince the jury that SBF has always operated the company with integrity from start to finish, and it was only due to operational errors that led the company to failure, thus should not be convicted of fraud. SBF’s defense lawyer, Mark Cohen, delivered his closing argument to the jury in a gentle tone:
In Mark Cohen’s statement, it was “communication errors in the real world”, “mistakes”, and “delays” that put the crypto empires of FTX and SBF in danger, not fraud against clients. Furthermore, Mark Cohen also emphasized to the jury in an almost pleading tone that they have the power to decide whether the “innocent SBF” is guilty, and if convicted, he may face a sentence equivalent to life imprisonment, attempting to evoke the jury’s sympathy.
Currently, SBF faces seven charges of fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud. If convicted, SBF could face up to 115 years in prison. The jury will decide his fate in the coming days.
Previously, lawyers speculated that SBF’s sentence is expected to be no less than 40 years. And according to community predictions on Manifold and Metaculus, SBF’s sentence is estimated to fall within 191 months, or approximately around 19 years.
