Federal Appeals Court Rejects SBF's New Trial Bid, Upholding 25-Year Sentence

Sam Bankman-Fried's (SBF) bid to overturn his fraud conviction and 25-year prison sentence has been rejected by a federal appeals court. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan denied SBF's appeal on June 12, 2026, upholding his 2023 conviction on seven felony counts, including wire fraud and conspiracy charges.

The ruling reaffirmed SBF's 25-year prison sentence, rejecting claims of an unfair trial linked to the $8 billion crypto collapse. SBF's defense attorneys argued that the U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan improperly excluded evidence suggesting FTX was solvent at the time of the collapse.

Prosecutors successfully countered that testimony from SBF's former lieutenants, including Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang, proved he directed the misuse of customer funds to cover losses at his trading firm, Alameda Research.