Judge Refers Sam Bankman-Fried’s Request for Pretrial Release to 3-Judge Panel

Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, presiding over the case involving the U.S. government and former chief of the defunct FTX exchange, Sam Bankman-Fried, issued an order on September 6 denying his request for “immediate release,” according to files from CourtListener.

Judge Kaplan of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit referred Sam Bankman-Fried’s “pretrial release” motion “to the next available three-judge panel.”

Bankman-Fried’s trial is set to begin on October 3, where he faces seven charges related to wire fraud, securities and commodities fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering along with illegal political finance charges. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

In a separate order also released yesterday, Judge Kaplan asked Bankman-Fried’s lawyers to submit a letter by September 8 to report inaccuracies in any “factual statement” made by the government in a joint letter sent on Tuesday.

The letter describes the conditions of computer and internet access that Bankman-Fried has in the Brooklyn jail for reviewing the case’s discovery material.

The court revoked Sam Bankman-Fried’s bail in mid-August on witness tampering concerns.

Since then, Bankman-Fried’s defense team has appealed for his release, arguing that his detention was interfering with his Sixth Amendment right to work on his own defense.

On September 5, the government claimed that Bankman-Friend had sufficient access to a laptop to review discovery materials at the Metropolitan Detention Center, Brooklyn. Those claims were refuted in a letter by Bankman-Fried’s lawyer, Mark Cohen.

In one of the orders passed by Judge Kaplan today, the judge has asked Bankman-Fried’s defense team to report inaccurate statement’s in the government’s claims.

Decrypt has reached out to Bankman-Fried’s legal team for comment.