SBF Begs Trump for Pardon to Escape 25-Year Sentence

FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried has officially submitted a petition for a presidential pardon to Donald Trump, seeking to cut short his 25-year prison sentence for historic fraud and money laundering, according to records updated on the Department of Justice’s Pardon Attorney Office website.

Inside SBF’s Bid for Presidential Clemency

The disgraced crypto mogul is currently serving his quarter-century sentence following a high-profile conviction in 2024. The formal clemency request, which marks a dramatic attempt to reclaim his freedom, was first reported by Bloomberg News.

Trump’s History of Pardoning White-Collar Criminals

During his second term in office, President Trump has actively utilized his executive clemency powers, granting pardons to hundreds of individuals. While a significant portion of these recipients includes participants in the January 6 Capitol riot, Trump has also shown a strong inclination toward forgiving complex financial crimes. An NBC News analysis published in January revealed that over 50% of the individual pardons issued during this period went to people convicted of white-collar offenses, including money laundering, wire fraud, and bank fraud.

The Strategic Move Behind the Official DOJ Filing

Historically, Trump’s pardon list has featured prominent figures who made substantial financial contributions to his political campaigns. Notably, the vast majority of those who received presidential clemency bypassed traditional channels entirely. According to Bloomberg’s findings, very few of the individuals pardoned by Trump actually filed formal, official paperwork through the Justice Department, making Bankman-Fried’s official application a highly structured and traditional approach to securing his release.