U.S. Justice Department Wants to Jail Sam Bankman-Fried

The U.S. Department of Justice wants FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried to spend the remainder of his time before his criminal trial in jail, alleging he has tried multiple times to tamper with witnesses.

Bankman-Fried, flanked by two attorneys, appeared in federal court Wednesday, as the DOJ alleged he shared documents with the New York Times to try and discredit former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison.

Danielle Sassoon, with the prosecution, opened the hearing by saying the DOJ was seeking Bankman-Fried’s detention.

“It is the government’s view that no set of release conditions can secure the safety of the community,” she said.

Bankman-Fried has sent more than 100 emails to reporters and had more than 100 phone calls with a single Times reporter, she said in court. The DOJ also believes the onetime crypto executive was the source of a previous article about Ellison.

Mark Cohen, an attorney for Bankman-Fried, said remanding him to jail would make it more difficult to organize the defense.

While Judge Lewis Kaplan, of the Southern District of New York, declined to jail Bankman-Fried immediately, he set out a rapid schedule for both the prosecution and the defense to make formal written submissions on the matter. The DOJ has until Friday to file theirs. The defense can respond until Tuesday, and the DOJ can file a final response by Aug. 3.

The judge ended the hearing by warning Bankman-Fried to take the matters seriously.

Bankman-Fried is currently set to go on trial in October on various charges, including securities and commodities fraud.

UPDATE (July 26 19:46 UTC): Added line about judge’s warning to Bankman-Fried.