- Ryan Salame, former co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets, appeared in court on September 12 to address a motion to vacate his guilty plea.
- Judge Lewis Kaplan questioned whether Salame had committed perjury regarding his guilty plea.
- Salame is currently out on $1 million bail and has surrendered their travel documents.
Former FTX Digital Markets co-CEO Ryan Salame appeared in a New York courtroom on September 12 for a hearing where a federal judge will consider his motion to vacate his guilty plea in relation to the cryptocurrency exchange’s collapse.
Judge Lewis Kaplan questioned whether Salame had committed perjury
Judge Lewis Kaplan of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York questioned whether Salame had committed perjury as part of his guilty plea, which included charges of making unlawful political contributions, defrauding the Federal Election Commission, and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business.
During the hearing, Salame suggested he might be willing to testify that he had an agreement with prosecutors concerning the criminal trial of his partner, Michelle Bond. Judge Kaplan indicated that he would review this information and issue a ruling later.
Between FTX’s collapse in 2022 and 2024, Salame had pleaded guilty, been sentenced to 90 months in prison, petitioned to vacate his plea, and then announced he would withdraw the motion to vacate. His guilty plea, filed in federal court in September 2023, stated that there were no additional agreements with prosecutors. However, as U.S. authorities continued to investigate Bond for campaign finance violations, Salame filed a motion to vacate his plea.
On August 22, prosecutors unsealed an indictment against Bond, accusing her and Salame of illegally funding her 2022 campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives. Salame, who has a child with Bond, attended the initial hearing in New York with her, where she pleaded not guilty.
Salame withdrew his motion to vacate his plea deal on August 29, stating he would refer the issue to Bond’s criminal case. Nevertheless, Judge Kaplan ordered him to attend the September 12 hearing.
Ex-FTX exec had previously pleaded guilty
Salame, one of five defendants indicted alongside former FTX and Alameda Research executives—including Sam Bankman-Fried, Caroline Ellison, Nishad Singh, and Gary Wang—was the only one who did not testify at Bankman-Fried’s 2023 trial. In May, Judge Kaplan sentenced him to 90 months in prison.
Initially, Salame was ordered to report to prison on August 29, but he requested a delay due to medical issues following a dog bite. Judge Kaplan rescheduled his reporting date to October 13, later advancing it to October 11.
As of publication, Bond and Salame were out on $1 million bail each and had been asked to surrender their travel documents. Since his sentencing, Salame has been active on social media, making claims about others involved in FTX’s downfall and his case.
In March, Judge Kaplan sentenced Bankman-Fried to 25 years in prison after his conviction on seven felony counts. Ellison, who also pleaded guilty to seven charges, is set to be sentenced on September 24. Singh and Wang have sentencing hearings scheduled for October and November, respectively.
