Where Is Caroline Ellison Now? Sam Bankman-Fried's Ex and FTX Co-Founder Awaits Sentencing
“It is likely that she will receive a reduced sentence, but with the high-profile nature of the case, that is far from certain.”
Apr. 9 2024, Published 3:18 p.m. ET
Caroline Ellison is the former CEO of Alameda Research, the trading firm affiliated with the cryptocurrency exchange FTX. Her former partner and former boyfriend will be behind bars for the next two decades. (Well, his prison sentence is for the next few decades; white-collar criminals rarely spend their entire sentence locked up behind bars.)
Caroline Ellison testified against Sam Bankman-Fried in United States v. Bankman-Fried. Without her assistance, it’s not clear how swiftly the case could have been resolved. She testified for nine hours over two days and provided the government with text exchanges. Bankman-Fried was found guilty on all counts. Ellison also plead guilty to all of the seven counts of fraud and conspiracy as part of a cooperation deal with prosecutors. On March 28, 2024 , he was sentenced to 25 years behind bars.
Where is Caroline Ellison now? She is waiting for sentencing.
In December 2022, Ellison plead guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud on customers of FTX, wire fraud on customers of FTX, conspiracy to commit wire fraud on lenders of Alameda Research and wire fraud on lenders of Alameda Research, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The maximum sentences of those seven combined counts are 110 years in prison.
In an Oct. 24, 2023 article in Tech Crunch tilted “Ex-SDNY prosecutor says Caroline Ellison, Gary Wang and Nishad Singh probably won’t get jail time,” former federal prosecutor and ex-assistant U.S. attorney for the SDNY Josh Naftalis is quoted as saying, “In a white-collar case, where you’re a first-time offender, as a cooperator, it’s pretty typical for the cooperating witness not to do actual jail time, but it’s the exception not the rule.”
In an April 5, 2024 article in Quartz, published after the Bankman-Fried sentencing, Case Western Reserve University law professor and director of the Financial Integrity Institute’s Eric Chaffee was quoted about Ellison’s potential future behind bars: “It is likely that she will receive a reduced sentence, but with the high-profile nature of the case, that is far from certain.”
In addition to cooperating with the government’s case against Bankman-Fried, another positive in her case is her compensation. While it’s in the millions, it’s a pittance compared to others. CNBC found, “Of the $3.2 billion in payouts to the exchange’s founders and other senior employees, FTX’s head of engineering, Nishad Singh, received $587 million, co-founder Gary Wang got $246 million and $2.2 billion went to Bankman-Fried. Ellison received $6 million.”
Ellison is not likely to get a hundred-year sentence. Her former partner only received a 25-year prison sentence and must forfeit $11 billion. Prosecutors were hoping for a 40-50 year sentence. He could have been sentenced for 115 years. Fast Company''s March 28, 2024 article "How much jail time will Sam Bankman-Fried actually serve?" estimates he'll actually serve 18.5 years.
During sentencing for Bankman-Fried U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan said, "He knew it was wrong, He knew it was criminal. He regrets that he made a very bad bet about the likelihood of getting caught. But he is not going to admit a thing, as is his right."
Scheduling for Caroline Ellison’s sentence has yet to be announced.