Sam Bankman-Fried’s Parents Seeking Pardon for Imprisoned Son, in Talks With People Connected to Trump: Report

The parents of former crypto golden boy Sam Bankman-Fried are reportedly taking steps to obtain US President Donald Trump’s pardon for their son.

Citing a person familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reports that in recent weeks, Stanford Law School Professors Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried met with lawyers and other figures considered close to Trump to discuss a potential clemency for their son.

Sam Bankman-Fried was convicted on charges stemming from the collapse of the FTX exchange, which he co-founded in 2019. He is currently serving a sentence of 25 years in prison.

Trump has granted executive clemency to over 1,500 individuals charged or convicted of criminal offenses since his return to the White House this January.

The president, who vowed to implement crypto reforms during his term, pardoned imprisoned Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, who has gained strong support from the crypto industry and the libertarian movement.

Bankman-Fried does not have the same level of support as Ulbricht’s but his lawyers have previously argued that his sentence was draconian since the customers of FTX have largely recovered the funds they initially lost.

The report says former FTX executive Ryan Salame, who was sentenced to more than seven years in prison, is also seeking a pardon.

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