Bankman-Fried’s Mom Told to Not Call Court on Son’s Behalf (1)

FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s mother may have been a law professor at Stanford University. But the judge who sentenced her son to 25 years in prison said she can’t act on his behalf in his bid for a new trial.

On Monday, the judge made clear he won’t consider letters, or a phone message to his chambers, from the former crypto king’s mother, Barbara Fried. The notice said that she had contacted the court to request additional time for her son to file papers.

“The court of course understands that Ms. Fried is the defendant’s mother, was trained and practiced as a lawyer, and has taught at Stanford Law School,” US District Judge Lewis Kaplan wrote. “Nevertheless, with no disrespect, she lacks standing to file papers or seek relief in this case.”

Fried, who retired from Stanford in 2022, doesn’t serve on her son’s legal team. But she has been involved in his legal proceedings, sending the court the motion for a new trial and separately explored how to secure him a pardon from President Donald Trump, Bloomberg previously reported.

Contacted for a response, Fried sent the text of a letter she said she had sent the judge on Monday. Fried told Kaplan that she believed he had “mischaracterized” her role and that she was simply transmitting Bankman-Fried’s request, not acting in a legal capacity.

Read More: Sam Bankman-Fried Asks for New Trial on FTX Fraud Charges

Bankman-Fried, 34, is serving time in a federal prison near Los Angeles after his conviction in 2023 on multiple criminal counts connected to the collapse of his cryptocurrency exchange the previous year. The conviction is on appeal, but Bankman-Fried filed a motion last month on his own — without help from his legal team — claiming there’s new evidence in the case and asking Kaplan for a new trial.

In his new-trial bid, Bankman-Fried claims he’s a victim of a “weaponized” Biden-era Justice Department — an argument that prosecutors have called “incoherent.” Bankman-Fried has also asked for a new judge, saying Kaplan has demonstrated “manifest prejudice” toward him. The judge issued a number of rulings restricting Bankman-Fried’s defense arguments at trial.

Fried asked for an extension until April 1 for Bankman-Fried to reply to the government’s arguments. She said he lacks word processing and access to his files in prison, and will be out of contact while being moved to a different prison in the next few weeks.

In her letter Monday, Fried said she was acting on the instructions of a clerk in Kaplan’s chambers and the court office that advises unrepresented litigants. She said her son didn’t have sufficient time to respond, between receiving the government’s court filing at the prison and his upcoming transfer.

In his own memo Monday, Kaplan said the court received a call from Bankman-Fried’s mom, or someone identifying themselves as her. Kaplan said the court “does not accept telephone calls from litigants or from members of their families.”

The judge said he’s extending the deadline until March 23, on his own initiative, for Bankman-Fried or his lawyers to seek additional time, if desired.

The case is US v. Bankman-Fried, 22-cr-00673, US District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

(Updates with Barbara Fried letter starting in fifth paragraph.)

To contact the reporter on this story:
Bob Van Voris in federal court in Manhattan at rvanvoris@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Molly Smith at msmith604@bloomberg.net

Anthony Lin

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