On March 12, Barbara Fried — mother of convicted crypto bigshot Sam Bankman-Fried — wrote a letter to Judge Lewis Kaplan. Judge Kaplan… was not particularly happy about this.
Judge Kaplan presided over SBF’s trial, revoked his bail for witness tampering, and has otherwise demonstrated approximately zero tolerance for any shenanigans in this case. In between social media posts designed to curry favor with America’s pardoner-in-chief, SBF wants a new trial and is representing himself pro se. SBF argues, in a nutshell, that FTX was totally solvent and the whole case against him amounts to political overreach. As inmate motions go, SBF’s new trial bid carries a lot of “child’s letter to Santa” energy.
Given this, perhaps it was inevitable that Mama Fried get involved, writing Judge Kaplan to request an extension of time for her son to reply to the government’s opposition to the new trial motion.
Judge Kaplan did not appreciate mom asking if her son could get an extension on his homework assignment.
“[W]ith no disrespect, she lacks standing to file papers or seek relief in this case,” the judge wrote after noting that Barbara Fried has practiced law and taught at Stanford Law School. Indeed, she clerked for the Second Circuit, practiced at Paul Weiss (back when it had a spine), and taught contracts and legal theory for over three decades.
But a law degree does not make her the defendant’s lawyer. Her letter claims that she holds power of attorney for her son, but that is also not the same as being his attorney. And while SBF is currently representing himself, he does have three lawyers on file that could lodge this motion for him. Kaplan also pointed out that the letter bore no indication it had been served on the U.S. Attorney’s office.
And then there’s this…
Moreover, court staff have advised that Ms. Fried or someone so identifying herself left a voicemail message on the chambers telephone line. The Court does not accept telephone calls from litigants or from members of their families.
The younger Bankman-Fried probably does need an extension, given that he’s due for transfer, which will sideline his efforts for an indeterminant period of time. And, on that note, Judge Kaplan issued a shorter extension on his own initiative to give SBF’s actual attorneys an opportunity to file a proper motion for extension.
Though even if he gets a lawyer to properly file for this extension — and successfully receives it — he’s still going to face a battle. New trials aren’t granted easily and the government’s opposition to his Rule 33 motion brands his claims as “fanciful” and “incoherent.”
Harsh words when your motion is described like a cryptocurrency.
(Full docketed exchange on the next page…)
Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter or Bluesky if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.
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