Lawyers for Sam Bankman-Fried seek temporary release, oppose prosecutors' proposed deal

The US Department of Justice has produced "millions of pages of documents" related to the criminal case of SBF, whose lawyers have claimed it was too difficult to access. jail before trial.

Lawyers representing former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, or SBF, have claimed that the “extraordinary accommodations” offered by authorities were insufficient to allow him to prepare for his criminal trial in October.

In an August 25 filing in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, SBF's legal team said prosecutors' proposed plan to allow the former CEO to FTX to access investigative documents before trial was inadequate. The lawyers said the US Department of Justice had produced approximately 4 million pages of investigative documents as of August 24 and that there remained “millions of pages of documents and terabytes of data” for SBF to review for its investigation. criminal trial.

“We do not believe that any measure other than temporary release will properly address these issues and safeguard Mr. Bankman-Fried’s right to participate in his own defense,” the filing states. "Before his bail was revoked, Mr. Bankman-Fried was spending 80 to 100 hours a week reviewing the voluminous discovery and creating detailed analyzes that he could constantly update and share with his attorneys."

Bankman-Fried was free on $250 million bail for approximately 8 months following his extradition from the Bahamas and arraignment in the United States in December 2022. However, following allegations of witness intimidation against former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison, a federal judge has revoked her bond. Since August 11, approximately two months before the start of his first criminal trial, SBF has been held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.

Since his bail was revoked, SBF's legal team has been pushing for fewer restrictions to allow him to get out of jail to prepare...