Former FTX executive Ryan Salame sentenced to 7.5 years in prison

Former FTX executive Ryan Salame was sentenced to 90 months, or 7.5 years, in prison, the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced in a statement released Tuesday.

“Ryan Salame agreed to promote the interests of FTX, Alameda Research and his co-conspirators through an illegal political influence campaign and through an unlicensed money transfer business, which allowed FTX to grow faster and grow while operating outside the law,” the U.S. Attorney said. Damian Williams said in a statement: “Salame’s involvement in two serious federal crimes undermined public confidence in U.S. elections and the integrity of the financial system. “Today’s sentence highlights the far-reaching consequences of such offences.”

When asking for leniency and a shorter sentence, his lawyers noted that Salame initiated the investigation into FTX, cooperated with U.S. authorities and faces lifelong stigma because of the collapse from FTX.

Additionally, Salame was also sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay more than $6 million in forfeiture and more than $5 million in restitution.

Former Alameda-FTX executives Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang also pleaded guilty and sought plea deals to avoid prison.