Judge sets March 11 deadline for prosecutors to oppose SBF’s new‑trial motion

Judge Lewis Kaplan of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has directed federal prosecutors to file their formal response by March 11, 2026 to Sam Bankman‑Fried’s motion seeking a new criminal trial, the court record shows. The order sets a firm deadline for the government to rebut the defense’s claims but does not itself indicate whether a retrial will be granted.

Bankman‑Fried’s motion centers on what his lawyers describe as newly available witness accounts that they say were not presented at his 2023 trial and “could help support his case.” The defense argues that the omitted testimony could have influenced the jury’s verdict. The judge’s order, entered in the SDNY, “does not signal support for a new trial or something, it simply sets a procedural timeline,” the filing paraphrases.

Federal prosecutors now have until March 11 to contest that characterization and to argue why the evidence, even if new, would not meet the stringent legal standard courts apply to post‑conviction requests. In many federal jurisdictions, requests for retrials based on newly discovered testimony face high hurdles; as one court principle summarized in filings, “federal courts apply strict standards to post‑conviction requests for new trials.” After reviewing the government filing, Judge Kaplan will decide whether the motion warrants further hearings or should be denied outright.

The new‑trial motion proceeds while Bankman‑Fried’s appeal is pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The appellate process is continuing as a separate, concurrent track and “can take months or longer,” complicating any immediate resolution even if the district court orders additional proceedings.

Bankman‑Fried, the former CEO of FTX, was convicted on seven felony counts in 2023 and was later sentenced to 25 years in prison the following March. His prosecution was one of the highest‑profile cases stemming from the collapse of FTX in November 2022, a failure that triggered widespread investor losses and intensified regulatory scrutiny of cryptocurrency markets. The trial drew attention for the scale of alleged misuse of customer funds and for testimony from cooperating witnesses, including former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison, who “entered a plea deal with U.S. authorities and testified against Bankman‑Fried during the trial” and was released from custody in January after 440 days of incarceration. Former FTX Digital Markets co‑CEO Ryan Salame received a sentence of more than seven years and remains incarcerated.

Political and policy angles are likely to shadow the legal fight. For now, “there is no indication that a pardon is on the table. Presidential clemency is typically rare in complex financial crime cases, especially those involving substantial investor losses and broad public impact,” court observers note. The White House has said President Trump is not considering a pardon for Bankman‑Fried; the president has granted pardons to several individuals connected to the crypto sector since taking office, including Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht.

The March 11 deadline will be a key procedural milestone. How prosecutors frame their response could determine whether the district court treats the filing as a narrow procedural matter or as the opening to renewed factfinding that might reverberate through ongoing appeals and across a crypto sector still grappling with heightened enforcement and regulatory changes.