Prosecutors want to withdraw Internet access from SBF
Sam Bankman-Fried has contacted witnesses, used a VPN and automatically deleted messages on Signal, but prosecutors still don’t want to revoke his bail.
Instead, U.S. Assistant Attorney Nicolas Roos argued in a hearing Thursday that SBF’s access to devices and the internet should be severely restricted as he awaits trial on charges including wire fraud and violations of campaign finance regulations include. Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty.
In a letter presented to the court on Wednesday, prosecutors urged that Bankman-Fried be largely banned from using cell phones, tablets, computers or the internet, with few restrictions. This includes using Zoom to speak to his attorneys, using a device to review finds, and using his phone for calls and texting.
“We need to move beyond the whac-a-mole approach,” Roos said loudly during the hearing downtown press Reporter Matthew Russell Lee. “We need a clear rule about the use of devices and the internet by the accused.”
The restrictions still seemed light to US District Court Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who questioned why prosecutors didn’t push for his bail to be vacated as they did for a commoner requested in a letter to Kaplan.
“You put a lot of faith in him,” Kaplan said loudly downtown press.
Roos pushed back on the judge’s concerns, saying prosecutors were “mindful of his First Amendment rights.”
Kaplan later raised concerns about SBF using his parents’ devices, but Roos added that living with his parents keeps him from being unsupervised.
SBF attorney Marc Cohen later added that the disgraced CEO needed internet access to review articles related to his case.
“He’s literally on trial for his life,” Cohen said loudly Law & Crime.
Since being released on $250 million bail co-signed by a current and former Stanford University faculty member, SBF has been liberal on technology.
The former CEO of bankrupt crypto exchange FTX has been accused by prosecutors of contacting former employees who could testify at his trial, including FTX US general counsel. Kaplan instructed Bankman-Fried to stop all contact with former and current employees of the crypto exchange and Alameda Research.
On Monday, prosecutors said he also used a VPN designed to disguise an internet user’s location. SBF’s attorneys claimed he used it to watch NFL games, including the Super Bowl.
Despite the potential violations of his bail conditions, Kaplan did not make a final decision on the prosecutor’s proposal. Kaplan urged both the defense and prosecutors for an agreement that would address his concerns and was considering hiring a potential technology consultant to advise him.
Kaplan reiterated that the purpose of Thursday’s hearing was not to get SBF’s bail overturned, but didn’t rule out the possibility either Law & Crimeadding, “…it could potentially get there.”
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