‘He Is Toast,’ Deaton Says As Sam Bankman-Fried Pleads Not Guilty

Deaton expresses faith in the justice system.

Attorney John Deaton has expressed confidence that disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried will face the full brunt of the law for his alleged crimes in an interview on FOX Business yesterday, asserting that SBF is “toast.”

Moments ago on @FoxBusiness, @JohnEDeaton1 reacts to @SBF_FTX not-guilty plea in the FTX fraud scandal (1/2)?? pic.twitter.com/VuAwBS73m8

— CryptoLaw (@CryptoLawUS) January 3, 2023

It comes after the former FTX chief entered a plea of “not guilty” to all fraud charges against him in a court hearing yesterday. The judge has set a tentative trial date for October 2. The judge also ruled that SBF should not tamper with Alameda or FTX funds while on bail at the request of the US Attorney. Per a rough transcript shared by Inner City Press in a Twitter thread yesterday, this decision did not appear to please SBF’s Lawyer.

Recall that wallets linked with Alameda were involved in suspicious and unexplained transactions days after the FTX and Alameda founder was released on bail. SBF has since denied any involvement, taking to Twitter to claim that he no longer has access to the wallets in question, as reported by The Crypto Basic. However, per the transcript, it is apparent that the prosecution does not trust SBF’s statements, noting that he has lied to followers before. Prosecutors will likely launch an investigation, per a Bloomberg report last week.

On a more controversial note, in the hearing yesterday, the judge agreed to requests from SBF’s attorney to keep the identities and addresses of the two unknown signees to SBF’s unprecedented $250 million bail bond anonymous. It bears mentioning that the Former FTX chief was released on his recognizance on a controversial $250 million bail bond backed by his parent’s $4 million California home and assets from 2 anonymous signers. Unsurprisingly, the crypto community is curious about the identity of these individuals who have put up considerable assets to secure the disgraced crypto founder’s bail, at least one of which, by law, has to be a non-family member.

In response to the latest developments in the case, Deaton conceded that most people are pissed about the bail but expressed faith in the justice system while speaking with FOX Business’ Charles Payne. Citing that the judge agreed to keep guilty pleas from Gary Wang and Caroline Ellison, both members of SBF’s inner circle, under wraps till he was in US custody, Deaton expressed confidence that the disgraced FTX founder would answer to the law.

Recall that Ellison and Wang turned state evidence.

“But I do have faith that he’s going to see justice,” Deaton said after conceding that most people are unhappy about the bail arrangement. “Because once you read the transcript of his partners in crime at their guilty plea, we learned that the prosecutors of the Southern District of New York asked the judge to keep it quiet in order to get his consent for extradition, and didn’t release their cooperation until he was in custody of the FBI in the air. And when you read that plea agreement, He’s toast Charles He’s toast.”

Furthermore, the CryptoLaw founder also expressed the belief that others suspected of being involved in what the SEC described as a multi-year-long fraud, like SBF’s parents, will also face indictments. He said this in response to Payne’s concerns that these individuals’ political connections may shield them from scrutiny. The lawyer called for faith in the US Attorney’s Office for The Southern District of New York which he asserts as historically “independent, or at least more independent of politics.”

SBF faces over 100 years in prison if found guilty on all 8 counts of fraud. He is also facing civil lawsuits from the SEC and CFTC. Bloomberg recently explained that SBF could change his plea in the future. Still, a not-guilty plea allows the FTX founder and his lawyers to evaluate the evidence against them during discovery.