Ryan Salame Withdraws Legal Plea During Bond Indictment

Former FTX executive Ryan Salame, who was given a 7.5-year jail sentence, has withdrawn a court appeal asking for his plea agreement to be upheld. Salame’s initial petition was intended to contest the terms of his plea; it asked for the plea to be upheld or for his sentence to be overturned. But recent events concerning his partner Michelle Bond have forced him to modify his legal approach.

Judge Lewis Kaplan chose to move forward with the hearing on the initial petition in spite of Salame’s withdrawal. Salame was also ordered to appear in court as part of the terms of his bail in the judge’s ruling, which was made public on Thursday. When Salame’s legal team first filed the petition, they claimed that prosecutors had forced him into pleading guilty by threatening to stop their investigation into Michelle Bond, his long-term companion and child’s mother.

This petition was filed just one day before Bond, a former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) attorney and leader of a crypto advocacy group, faced federal indictment. She was charged on August 22 with accepting illegal campaign contributions from Salame and other FTX employees during her unsuccessful 2022 Congressional campaign.

Shift in Focus to Bond’s Legal Battle

In light of Bond’s indictment, Salame’s legal team opted to withdraw the petition to allow Bond to address the matter in her own legal proceedings. The lawyers stated, “Mr. Salame is withdrawing the Petition so that Ms. Bond may raise the matter in her proceeding.” They emphasized that Salame stands by the facts presented in the original petition but believes that the issues should be adjudicated in Bond’s case.

Bond, who appeared in the Southern District of New York (SDNY) court, was released on a $1 million bond. She faces four counts related to campaign finance violations, including conspiracy to cause unlawful political contributions and accepting excessive campaign contributions. If convicted, each count carries a maximum sentence of five years.

The upcoming hearing, despite the petition withdrawal, may still bring to light significant details regarding the plea negotiations and the broader legal implications for both Salame and Bond.