Gary Wang, FTX’s co-founder, has asked through his legal team for a non-custodial sentence in a memo filed last November sixth in reference to america v. Sam Bankman-Fried.

The pc programmer argued that he shouldn’t serve jail time over his supposed involvement with the failed FTX since he was a key witness against Sam Bankman-Fried.

In accordance with Wang’s lawyer, Ilan Graff, the respondent shouldn’t serve time since he has consistently cooperated, and this lack of guilt should end in a non-custodial sentence.

Last March twenty eighth, Sam Bankman-Fried was ordered to pay as much as $11 billion along with a 25-year sentence. Wang’s official sentencing, as a celebration and key witness, is scheduled for November twentieth.

Gary Wang, A Key Witness Against FTX’s Bankman-Fried

In a sentencing document filed last November sixth, Wang asked that he be spared from imprisonment since he helped in constructing the case. On page 2 of the document, The team of Gary Wang argued that Gary’s testimony was crucial to the case.

A screenshot of Wang’s arguments for why he ought to be granted a non-custodial sentence. Source: CourtListener

The document added that Wang “testified powerfully” for 3 days and shared how Bankman-Fried exploited the system to his profit.

Also, Wang stated that he had a limited role within the FTX’s fraud value over $10 billion. Wang even compared his limited role to that of Caroline Ellison and Nishad Singh, who he argued had contributed more to the fraud.

Wang’s Sentencing Set For November twentieth

In accordance with reports, the sentencing is scheduled for November twentieth, with Judge Lewis Kaplan on the bench. Last September, Judge Kaplan issued a two-year sentence for Ellison and Singh for time served.

In his defense, Wang countered that being sentenced to serve time would raise comparisons with Singh and would fail to think about his cooperation with the court and minimal culpability.

Gary Wang Is Part Of The Bankman-Fried Inner Circle

Wang belongs to Sam’s inner circle throughout the FTX. He was also one among those that met with the US prosecutors to strike a plea deal in exchange for information on how the FTX worked. As a part of his conversations with prosecutors, Wang shared some details about FTX, which led to its bankruptcy and subsequent class actions.

Wang also participated in Sam’s trial and shared how his co-founder instructed him to alter the exchange’s codes. This code change allowed Alameda Research to to steal and use customer funds before this practice unraveled in 2022.

Alameda Research was a cryptocurrency trading company that acquired and sold digital currencies in several parts of the globe. It was co-founded in 2017 by Sam Bankman-Fried and Tara MacAulay.

For Wang, he only had minimal involvement with the fraud. He also added that he only learned about it late within the day and was deceived and lied to by his friend. Other than his participation on this trial, Wang also worked with the administration to construct software systems to detect fraud.

Featured image from Yuki Iwamura, Bloomberg/Getty Images, chart from TradingView