Sam Bankman-Fried, convicted of stealing $8 billion from customers of the now-bankrupt FTX cryptocurrency exchange, should spend 40 to 50 years in prison, prosecutors said on Friday.
"In recent years, his life has been marked by unparalleled greed and arrogance; ambition and rationalization," federal prosecutors in Manhattan wrote. "Often risking and gambling with other people's money. Even now, Bankman-Fried refuses to admit that what he did was wrong."
In November, a jury found Bankman-Fried, 32, guilty of seven counts of fraud and conspiracy.
Lawyers for the former billionaire advised U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan that a sentence of 5-1/4 to 6-1/2 years in prison would be more appropriate. They said FTX customers would get most of their funds back and that Bankman-Fried did not intend to steal.
Kaplan plans to sentence Bankman-Fried on March 28 in Manhattan federal court. Bankman-Fried plans to appeal his conviction and sentence.