Now do all the other ponzi scheme bros, including 80% of the insider traders in Congress
Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison
401–410 of 1001 posts
Re: Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison
#402This type of punishment is actually pretty terrible for all parties. I could easily see a different, harsher, but more fair punishment... 1. All assets are sold off to pay victims 2. Prison for a few years. 5? 3. can only work jobs where nobody reports to them (no management, C levels, etc). Also cannot make companies. 4. Cannot own more than 2 properties, one of which is his place of residence. 5. Cannot rent out an…
True. But americans love to waste their tax money and put harmless (in a physical violence sense) people like him behind bars instead of doing something useful for society. In 10 years he'll be free and start the next scam with the couple of millions he's probably hiding somewhere.
That's quite a definition of harmless you have there.
Re: Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison
#403To be honest, isn't 25 years too much? He didn't beat or kill anyone, he simply found dumb people and took little of their money. It is not like he was robbing poor people by increasing their utilities bill every year or raising rent. Why is such a small, non-violent crime so severely punished? Of course he deserves a punishment but maybe not that much?
> It is not like he was robbing poor people
A crime is not less of a crime based on the economic status of the victims. And raising rent or utilities is not a crime.
Re: Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison
#404To be honest, isn't 25 years too much? He didn't beat or kill anyone, he simply found dumb people and took little of their money. It is not like he was robbing poor people by increasing their utilities bill every year or raising rent. Why is such a small, non-violent crime so severely punished? Of course he deserves a punishment but maybe not that much?
If steal $1000 from you, how much time should I serve? A year?
If I steal $1000 each from thousands of people, how much time should I serve then?
Re: Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison
#405To be honest, isn't 25 years too much? He didn't beat or kill anyone, he simply found dumb people and took little of their money. It is not like he was robbing poor people by increasing their utilities bill every year or raising rent. Why is such a small, non-violent crime so severely punished? Of course he deserves a punishment but maybe not that much?
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Re: Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison
#406An uncle once commented about a cousin of ours that he demonstrated how it's possible to screw things up so badly that you can't possibly recover. I think that's true for Sam. I hope it's not true for the people in his orbit; I hope they can get out from under this and try to find meaning, ideally from repairing the harm they've done. As Rick Heicklen writes, "We are not ever going to be Sam. But we could be Caroline…
FWIW, I didn't find Lewis's book as bad (or amoral) as it's often made out to be. Yes, he didn't put his judgement in every paragraph, but his description of SBF was: a) absolutely damning! SBF's lack of empathy, his notion that (given that everyone else is stupid) he knew best and should basically ignore the advice of everyone else (particularly his elders), his naive utilitarianism without any deontological/virtue…
I very much agree. "Number go up" by Faux is the better book in many respects, but Lewis's book contains much background info not reported elsewhere. Lewis's book is damning about SBF as you said. About how unapologetic and manipulative he is. About his willingness to gamble with other people's money. About his complete lack of ethical boundaries. About the casual way SBF ignored all laws he didn't like. About SBF's history of reckless gambling.
Yes, Lewis was (and probably still is) sympathetic to SBF. But that's also how he got him to talk! The book wouldn't have been possible had Lewis behaved as a skeptical investigative journalist. Lewis gave SBF all the rope he needed to hang himself with, and that was all he needed to do.
Re: Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison
#407Earlier quoted context omitted.
Stole 1% from the pension fund for Ontario's teachers. Stole unknown amounts of peoples retirement. Ruined many peoples lives. How is 50 years too long? The literal largest fraud case in history doesn't even have a life sentence... We are sending a clear message, grift and steal your way to the top and then get out just in time to retire with all your stolen goods. You know when he gets out he is gonna go unlock a de…
25 years is a long, long time. He's going to spend the best years of his life in federal prison and come out the other side in a world that's moved on without him. 25 years ago the World Trade Center buildings were still standing. IMO, if we're thinking of sentencing someone to 50 years or life in prison, we should cut to the chase and execute them instead. It's faster and cheaper for the taxpayers, and arguably less…
we don't execute for financial fraud and white collar crimes. I do think prisoners should be given an option for assisted suicide in cases where they get 50+ year sentences, however. Obviously there would be more complexities to that like wait times and mental evaluations.
Re: Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison
#408Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Parole is available after 1/3 of term IIRC it's 85%. Federal prison does not have parole, but they do give some credit for good behavior, up to 15%.
This was true for a long time, but the "First Step" act, passed I think in 2021, increased the good behavior credit maximum to 50%. Realistically then, SBF is looking at 11.5 years if he can stay out of trouble, which is relatively easy for white-collar criminals in relatively low security prisons. Federal rules still don't have parole.
He's proven repeatedly that he's incapable of abiding by the conditions of his parole. What makes everyone in this thread so sure he'll demonstrate "good behavior"?
Re: Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison
#409I recall people very confidently saying he would never be prosecuted for his political ties.
People say things all the time. That's not relevant to this story, and is kind of flamebaity.
Indeed they do, including on this very website
Re: Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison
#410I love HN, it's one of the few places you can get reasoned conversation online. But this is one of those subjects where it gets weird. SBF was directly responsible for millions, if not billions, of direct monetary loss to identified individuals. Yet the top comments on HN are all discussing whether incarceration is retribution, spite, deterrence, or rehabilition. The USA incarcerates people for tiny financial damages…
I've noticed the same trend. HN (as a collective) doesn't believe in punishing white-collar crimes with incarceration. I guess it hits too close to home.