Gary Wangshowtime, who was a close friend and colleague of the disgraced cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman-Fried, on Wednesday avoided prison time for his role in the collapse of the FTX crypto exchange after he cooperated with U.S. prosecutors.
Mr. Wang is the second key cooperating witness in the FTX case to receive a sentence that does not involve any prison time. Instead, a federal judge sentenced him to three years of supervised release.
Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who has presided over the case, told Mr. Wang that he deserved a “world of credit” for the extent of his cooperation. “You immediately did the right thing,” Judge Kaplan said.
Weeks after FTX failed in 2022, Mr. Wang, now 31, pleaded guilty to participating in the theft of $8 billion from the exchange’s customers. He agreed to cooperate with prosecutors, and testified for the government at the 2023 trial of Mr. Bankman-Fried, whom Mr. Wang had known since they were teenagers.
Mr. Bankman-Fried was found guilty on seven counts of fraud, conspiracy and money laundering, and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. He has appealed the conviction.
Before Mr. Wang’s sentencing, his lawyers requested that he serve no prison time, while prosecutors also called for leniency.
We are having trouble retrieving the article content.
Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Already a subscriber? Log in.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.showtime