US prosecutor intervenes in FTX-linked case, suggests resolution without trial

Jay Clayton, the former chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission and now interim US Attorney for the Southern District of New York (SDNY), has suggested that prosecutors and defense lawyers may explore a “potential resolution” in the criminal case involving Michelle Bond, the wife of former FTX Digital Markets co-CEO Ryan Salame.

In a Thursday filing in the US District Court for SDNY, Clayton requested the judge overseeing Bond’s case exclude seven days under the Speedy Trial Act so the two sides could “engage in discussions regarding a potential resolution of the matter without the need for trial.”

The filing followed a similar request for a three-day delay by Bond’s lawyers. Judge George Daniels signed an order the same day, cancelling a previously scheduled conference on July 15 and ordering oral arguments for a motion to be heard on July 22.

“The Government respectfully submits that an exclusion of time would serve the ends of justice and outweigh the best interests of the public and the defendant in a speedy trial because it would allow the parties to produce and review discovery, to consider potential motion practice, and to engage in discussions regarding a potential resolution of the matter without the need for trial,” Clayton wrote.

Thursday letter from Jay Clayton to Judge George Daniels. Source: SDNYBond was indicted on campaign finance charges in August 2024 related to her failed run for a seat in the US House of Representatives in 2022. Her lawyers have argued in motions that at least one of the charges should be dismissed, claiming that there was a verbal agreement in place from prosecutors not to pursue an investigation into Bond as part of Salame’s plea deal

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Clayton’s letter marked one of the few times the former SEC chair has intervened in his capacity as interim head of SDNY in a crypto-related criminal case since being sworn in in April. He will be allowed to serve as the interim US attorney until Aug. 20 without Senate confirmation or a temporary extension from the court.

Many FTX criminal cases have already had their day in court

Bond’s husband, Salame, was sentenced to more than seven years in prison in May 2024 following a plea deal with prosecutors. The former FTX Digital Markets co-CEO was the only individual named in the same indictment as Sam Bankman-Fried who did not testify at the former FTX CEO’s high-profile criminal trial in New York.

Salame also initially attempted to nullify his plea deal, claiming that prosecutors said they would not pursue their case against Bond if he pleaded guilty. However, his lawyers later dropped the motion, and Salame reported to prison to serve his sentence in October

Bond’s case remains one of the last criminal proceedings connected to the FTX cryptocurrency exchange since its collapse in 2022.

Bankman-Fried and Salame are both serving time in prison, as is former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison. Former FTX executives Nishad Singh and Gary Wang, who also pleaded guilty to charges, were each sentenced to time served.

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