The opening phrase is killing me. What can "From at least in or about 2019" mean? Does it mean not before 2019? Does it mean 2019 at the latest?
At minimum roughly in 2019, but possibly earlier?
The United States of America vs. Samuel Bankman-Fried Indictment [pdf]
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Re: The United States of America vs. Samuel Bankman-Fried Indictment [pdf]
#32The opening phrase is killing me. What can "From at least in or about 2019" mean? Does it mean not before 2019? Does it mean 2019 at the latest?
I think it means "we have evidences about his crimes in 2019, but we suspect he also commited some crimes earlier, and if we'd find additional information in due course, we reserve the right to add it to the charges" in legalspeak.
Re: The United States of America vs. Samuel Bankman-Fried Indictment [pdf]
#33So 4 counts on wire fraud and then also commodities fraud, securities fraud, money laundering and campaign finance laws. For the moment, if we set aside whether these will be proven, how bad does a stack of charges like this look for him if they are proven?
Knowing how connected the guy is, I'm guessing he'll only serve a few years at most. I sincerely hope I'm mistaken.
Eh, it feels like he may have donated a lot, but he wasn't crazy popular. Plus, not like he's had a long track record of donations over many years. I am not sure anyone with much influence will stick their neck out for someone like him
Re: The United States of America vs. Samuel Bankman-Fried Indictment [pdf]
#34The opening phrase is killing me. What can "From at least in or about 2019" mean? Does it mean not before 2019? Does it mean 2019 at the latest?
It means that they have identified acts back to 2019 but are not foreclosing on finding more acts earlier.
Things that happened earlier than 2019 have dates less than 2019, no?
Re: The United States of America vs. Samuel Bankman-Fried Indictment [pdf]
#35How anyone could look at this man's behavior over the last few weeks and not think he was on a fast track to a federal penitentiary is beyond me. A word to the unwise: If you have done something, anything, that you have a credible reason to believe the United States government thinks is illegal, shut up . Do not do any of the following: * Go on a podcast and talk about it * Go on a Twitter livestream and talk about i…
I don't pity SBF, but this advice is important for innocent citizens. It's unfortunate that anything you say to law enforcement can be used against you - but none of it can be used for you. A police officer can testify against you, but if they try to support you it will be dismissed as "hearsay".
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=d-7o9xYp7eE
obligatory “don’t talk to the police” link.
Re: The United States of America vs. Samuel Bankman-Fried Indictment [pdf]
#36Interesting wording. I am not a Lawyer but have had a lot of interest in this case and others like it. "SAMUEL BANKMAN-FRIED" a/k/a "SBF," the defendant, and others known and unknown did combine, conspire, confederate, and agree together and with each other to commit wire fraud". Does this indicate that they intend to charge more people in the organization under RICO laws? Or is that just standard legalese for any wi…
Pretty standard legalese from where I'm sitting but I'd expect more people to be charged. He didn't do this all by himself. RICO wouldn't really apply here, they've already got the top guy, and usually RICO is about charging the top guy with the little guys' crimes.
Re: The United States of America vs. Samuel Bankman-Fried Indictment [pdf]
#37So 4 counts on wire fraud and then also commodities fraud, securities fraud, money laundering and campaign finance laws. For the moment, if we set aside whether these will be proven, how bad does a stack of charges like this look for him if they are proven?
Quoted post unavailable.
The Republican donations might be worse - since he tried to do them illegally it sounds like - and someone might have knowingly accepted them.
The solution is to have very low maximum donation to a campaign ($50?) and no corporate donations.
Re: The United States of America vs. Samuel Bankman-Fried Indictment [pdf]
#38So 4 counts on wire fraud and then also commodities fraud, securities fraud, money laundering and campaign finance laws. For the moment, if we set aside whether these will be proven, how bad does a stack of charges like this look for him if they are proven?
It depends on how much the court thinks he stole (of the billions). The US Sentencing Guidelines tops out at around $550 million dollars, which adds 30 levels. Plus some adjustments: 2 for using mass marketing or 4-6 for causing financial hardship (only one of these), 4 for being the leader of the organization.
The base for larceny is 6.
That gives 36 just based on the money, and up to 46. That's 15 years on the low end, and runs off the end of the table ("life") on the high.
In the federal system there is 15% time off for good behavior, so 15 years means 12.75 actually served.
I'm assuming here the counts run concurrently or group (which I think is more typical than sequential, and also gives lower numbers). The judge can depart from the guidelines and give a lower sentence but SBF is not in a good place right now.
https://www.ussc.gov/guidelines/2021-guidelines-manual-annot...
Re: The United States of America vs. Samuel Bankman-Fried Indictment [pdf]
#39How anyone could look at this man's behavior over the last few weeks and not think he was on a fast track to a federal penitentiary is beyond me. A word to the unwise: If you have done something, anything, that you have a credible reason to believe the United States government thinks is illegal, shut up . Do not do any of the following: * Go on a podcast and talk about it * Go on a Twitter livestream and talk about i…
I don't pity SBF, but this advice is important for innocent citizens. It's unfortunate that anything you say to law enforcement can be used against you - but none of it can be used for you. A police officer can testify against you, but if they try to support you it will be dismissed as "hearsay".
If an officer testified in support of you about what he witnessed, why would that be hearsay?
Re: The United States of America vs. Samuel Bankman-Fried Indictment [pdf]
#40> "did transmit and cause to be transmitted by wire, radio, and television communication" Note to self: Remember to use only free-space lightwave communications to avoid committing wire fraud. Edit: Removed "fiber" because it looks too much like a wire and avoid being busted by outside1234!
Aren't light waves and radio waves the same phenomenon at different wavelengths?