Sam Bankman-Fried, the 34-year-old former CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has formally applied for a presidential pardon from the White House, according to a notice posted on the Justice Department's Pardon Attorney Office website. The request, filed as a "pardon after completion of sentence," comes after Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2024 for orchestrating a massive fraud that cost lenders, customers, and investors approximately $10 billion.
Bankman-Fried has been actively using social media and interviews with conservative outlets to angle for clemency from President Donald Trump, who has granted pardons to dozens of white-collar defendants during his second term. However, Trump told the New York Times in January that he had no plans to pardon Bankman-Fried.
A White House spokesperson declined to comment, referring to Trump's earlier remarks, while a Justice Department spokesperson also declined to comment. Representatives for Bankman-Fried did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The petition follows the standard Justice Department process for leniency, a system used by thousands of people annually. However, Trump has often bypassed this process in his second term, relying instead on a supercharged pardon economy where some lawyers charge up to $1 million to prepare cases and present them to the White House for consideration, as reported by Bloomberg News.
Bankman-Fried's notice does not specify who filed his petition.
In a recent phone interview with Fox Business, published Monday, Bankman-Fried said he "absolutely" wanted a pardon from the White House. "It would be obviously, you know, ultimately up to the president, not up to me," he said.
Fox Business earlier reported on the pardon application.
Bankman-Fried is also awaiting a decision from New York's federal appeals court, which is considering his bid to have his conviction and sentence overturned. A ruling could come at any time.
From a low-security prison in California, the former Democratic megadonor has been working to reshape his tarnished image while publicly supporting the president. Posts on Bankman-Fried's X account have praised Trump's actions regarding the Iran War and certain pardon-related decisions.
Bankman-Fried is not the only high-profile financial crime convict seeking a pardon. Martin Shkreli, known as the "Pharma Bro" after his 2017 securities fraud conviction, has also submitted a clemency request, according to the Pardon Attorney Office website.
A lawyer for Shkreli did not immediately return an email seeking comment, and Shkreli himself did not reply to an email. He posted about the request on social media last month.