SBF trial to begin as judge says he faces “very long sentence” if convicted

Enlarge / Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried arrives for a bail revocation hearing at US District Court on August 11, 2023, in New York City. (credit: Getty Images | Michael Santiago)

Sam Bankman-Fried's criminal trial is beginning this week with jury selection on Tuesday morning. SBF, the 31-year-old man behind bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, is facing seven criminal charges with maximum sentences adding up to 110 years.

"Your client in the event of conviction could be looking at a very long sentence," US District Judge Lewis Kaplan told SBF's lawyers in a hearing on Thursday while rejecting the defense's request for a temporary release from jail. "If things begin to look bleak... maybe the time would come when he would seek to flee," Kaplan said, according to a Reuters article.

Bankman-Fried was previously under house arrest but was sent to jail in August after his bail was revoked. In their request for a temporary release, SBF's lawyers said the "case is highly technical and complex, and we need our client to help us understand the facts and explain many of the issues. He alone knows the facts which are also critical in preparing his defense."