Sam Bankman-Fried Faces Life-Long Poverty Despite Court Release

Sam Bankman-Fried's Supreme Court attorney claims that if a $1.1 billion penalty is imposed, the FTX founder will remain permanently destitute even after being released from prison.

Jeffrey Fisher filed a petition on September 10, arguing the amount violates the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against excessive fines. He explained this during an interview with CNN host Michael Smerconish on his radio program.

The $1.1 billion order does not seek to recover assets Bankman-Fried currently holds but imposes financial judgment for amounts he never possessed. Fisher asserts that realistically, no future income could cover the sum, noting that Bankman-Fried's net worth was estimated at $26-26.5 billion before FTX collapsed in early 2022.

Fisher linked his argument to the Magna Carta, stating that fines should not strip offenders of all means to earn money again. He referenced a recent Supreme Court case involving a man who entered an alcohol-prohibited town with six cans of beer and had a $95,000 plane seized.

The petition also argues that jurors heard only about customers losing billions but not about the 105% repayment rate achieved in FTX's fifth customer payout. Fisher claims this omission made a fair trial impossible, demanding a new trial.