Bankman-Fried Lawyers Press for Better Jailhouse Internet Access

The war over Sam Bankman-Fried’s jailhouse internet access continues.

Attorneys for the accused cryptocurrency fraudster said in a memo to the court Friday (Sept. 8) that prosecutors are overstating the access their client has to material to assist his defense. 

Bankman-Fried, 31, is accused of multiple counts of fraud and conspiracy connected to the multi-billion-dollar collapse last year of the FTX crypto exchange.

To help him prepare for his trial next month, his lawyers in August filed a request for him to get an internet-enabled laptop and access to a cellblock at the federal courthouse in Manhattan, five days per week leading up to the trial.

Prosecutors have argued that the restrictions are just inconveniences and haven’t prevented Bankman-Fried’s defense prep. They also argue that the defendant has access to technology beyond what is normally available for prisoners awaiting trial.

Last week, the Department of Justice filed a letter with the court saying Bankman-Fried had access to multiple hard drives with defense material, an air-gapped laptop each day of the week and an internet-connected laptop with a battery provided by his lawyers.

But defense attorneys argue Bankman-Fried was only able to load a single document due to poor internet speeds.

“Effectively, Mr. Bankman-Fried had no access to the internet for the entire 5-hour period,” the letter said, adding that there doesn’t seem to be a way to address the issue of internet access in their client’s cellblock

“That means that Mr. Bankman-Fried has no way to review and search documents in the discovery database or the AWS database before trial,” the letter adds. “The defendant cannot prepare for trial with these kinds of limitations.”

Bankman-Fried has been incarcerated since last month after Judge Lewis Kaplan found that the defendant had likely engaged in witness tampering. If convicted at trial in October, the one-time crypto wunderkind could spend the rest of his life in prison.

Meanwhile, last week saw the news that former FTX executive Ryan Salame had plead guilty to criminal charges related to the downfall of the cryptocurrency exchange.

Salame pleaded guilty Thursday to making tens of millions of dollars in unlawful campaign contributions to American politicians and engaging in a criminal conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transfer business.

He also agreed to forfeit up to $1.55 billion in assets and could be called as a witness to testify at Bankman-Fried’s trial.