Ryan Salame (30), a former top executive of FTX, has been sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison for his role in the crypto firm’s activities. Sam Bankman Fried, the founder and CEO of FTX, was eventually sentenced to 25 years in prison for his activities.
In late 2023, Salame pled guilty to conspiracy to make unlawful political contributions and defraud the Federal Election Commission, as well as conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business.
At that time, US Attorney Damian Williams said the Salame sought to advance the interests of FTX and Alameda Research via a political influence campaign and through an unlicensed money-transmitting business. This helped FTX grow faster and larger by operating outside of the law.
Today, Williams reiterated those claims.
In addition to the prison term, Salame was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay more than $6 million in forfeiture and more than $5 million in restitution.
The DOJ’s case against Salame states that around 2020, Salame conspired with Bankman-Fried and FTX executive Nishad Singh to donate campaign contributions in a manner that obscured Bankman-Fried’s association with certain of the contributions. These donations were said to be made to improve Bankman-Fried’s personal standing in Washington, D.C., increase FTX’s profile, and curry favor with candidates.
In total, the DOJ claims that more than 300 political contributions, totaling tens of millions of dollars, were made.
