Regular readers know that I am interested in the criminal prosecution of Sam Bankman-Fried, who is currently serving 25 years in federal prison for fraudulent activity related to his operation of failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX. I reviewed Michael Lewis’s book about Bankman-Fried and have posted several times about the case. There are now several new developments to report. First, Bankman-Fried has appealed. Reuters reports here that his principal claim is that the trial judge erred by excluding evidence that FTX actually had – at all relevant times – sufficient assets to cover all customer deposits. (The bankruptcy trustee has, in fact, recovered more assets than necessary to pay all creditors, including customers, in full.) Second, Lewis has posted this “personal verdict” about the case, which assuredly will not change the opinions of those who see Lewis as an apologist for Bankman-Fried. Third, Caroline Ellison, Bankman-Fried’s business partner and sometime girlfriend turned prosecution witness, is soon to be sentenced herself. Her presentence report says that under the United States Sentencing Guidelines, her guideline sentence is life without parole. Remarkably, the report recommends probation based on her cooperation. Sentencing Law and Policy has more here, including some interesting details about what Ellison is doing to stay busy while awaiting her (next) day in court. Keep reading for more news.
UNC campus protest includes property damage, alleged assault. WRAL reports here that UNC Students for Justice in Palestine held an event on campus Thursday afternoon to protest the university’s failure to divest from Israel. The group seems to have entered campus buildings and disrupted classes. Additionally, at least some protestors spray-painted a building on campus, and one protestor allegedly committed an assault. The administration issued a statement indicating that campus police “will conduct any necessary investigations.”
Kentucky sheriff charged with murdering judge. The AP has this story about events in Letcher County, Kentucky, a small Appalachian community where Sheriff Shawn Stines is believed to have shot and killed Judge Kevin Mullins in the courthouse after an argument. The details of the argument are not reported in the story. Highlighting the close-knit nature of the area, the local prosecutor has recused himself from the case, saying that “Judge Mullins and I married sisters and . . . we have children who are first cousins but act like siblings.”
Former North Carolina sheriff has convictions overturned on appeal. Sticking with the theme of sheriffs-as-defendants, former Granville County Sheriff Brindell Wilkins got good news from the North Carolina Court of Appeals this week when it overturned his convictions for obtaining property by false pretenses and for obstruction of justice in connection with falsifying training records. Alex Phipps fully summarized the opinion here. Bear in mind that Wilkins has other convictions for a separate incident in which he apparently told someone to “take care of” and “kill” a former deputy who had threatened to expose Wilkins’s use of racial epithets.
French rape defendant admits guilt. As most readers likely know, Dominique Pelicot, age 71, in on trial in France for allegedly drugging his wife and inviting dozens of men to rape her while unconscious. Or perhaps not just “allegedly,” since the BBC reports that this week he took the stand and admitted guilt, stating “I am a rapist.” He speculated that his conduct had roots in sexual abuse he said he suffered as a child, or perhaps that he “became perverted” when someone on an internet chat room explained to him how he could use sedatives to drug his wife. Pelicot also told the court that the men he invited to assault his wife were aware that she did not consent. Some have since claimed that they thought it was a game, or that she was pretending to be asleep because she was shy, but Pelicot said that he recruited them from a chat room called “without her consent” and that they knew that his wife was drugged.
Florida man asks deputy to test his “bad” narcotics. Finally, Fox 35 in Orlando reports here that a local man was recently arrested for burglary. During the arrest, he told the arresting deputy that he had some drugs that he thought were bad, and asked the deputy to test them to see whether anything was wrong with them. It seems that the deputy obliged, and as a result, the man was charged with possession of methamphetamine as well as burglary.