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A former U.S. Attorney, Danielle Sassoon, vehemently denied in court that she ever assured immunity to Michelle Bond, the former partner of ex‑FTX executive Ryan Salame, during a high-stakes evidentiary hearing in Manhattan federal court.
Sassoon took the stand Thursday in an evidentiary hearing concerning a deal with one of the company’s executives, which was held in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Sassoon testifies on Salame’s guilty plea and Bond’s campaign finance charges
According to the Thursday hearing, Sassoon testified about the guilty plea of Ryan Salame, the former co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets, which resulted in his sentencing to over seven years in prison.
Reports from Inner City Press indicate Sassoon said that her team would “probably not continue to investigate [Salame’s] conduct” if he agreed to plead guilty.
Further scrutiny of the former FTX executive and his then-girlfriend, Michelle Bond, led to the latter facing campaign finance charges.
“I’m not in the business of gotcha or tricking people into pleading guilty,” said Sassoon, referring to Bond being charged after Salame’s plea.
Bond, one of the last individuals linked to criminal cases against former FTX executives, is seeking to have her charges dismissed, arguing that prosecutors “induced a guilty plea” from Salame.
A resolution in her case could close the chapter on the criminal proceedings that began with FTX’s bankruptcy in November 2022. She pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to cause unlawful campaign contributions, causing and accepting excessive campaign contributions, causing and receiving an unlawful corporate contribution, and causing and receiving a conduit contribution.
The charges are closely tied to Salame allegedly ordering $400,000 in funds connected to FTX, which was used for Bond’s 2022 campaign for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
FTX executives face prison as Bankman-Fried appeals conviction
It’s been three years since the FTX collapse. Salame reported for his seven-and-a-half-year prison sentence in October 2024. Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research, pleaded guilty and began serving a two-year prison sentence in November 2024. Two other former executives named in the indictment — Nishad Singh and Gary Wang — pleaded guilty and received sentences of time served.
Bankman-Fried’s case is, in fact, ongoing. The former CEO has been held in jail since August 2023, when a judge revoked his bail for intimidating witnesses. Later, he was tried and convicted by law, sentenced to 25 years’ imprisonment in a case closely watched by many, including those in the crypto and blockchain industries.
SBF’s lawyers returned to court on Nov. 4 to argue for overturning the former CEO’s conviction and sentence. Filings claimed that Bankman-Fried was “never presumed innocent” during his trial and argued his legal team was not allowed to present information regarding FTX’s solvency.
The possibility of Sam Bankman-Fried receiving a presidential pardon has increased following the pardon of former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao by Donald Trump, amid intensified speculation.
Polymarket market data has revealed that the chances of SBF getting a pardon are 12%, indicating interest is returning among traders and crypto watchers. And analysts say a pardon like that might not happen, but it would reshape the legal and financial terrain surrounding the fallout from FTX’s collapse. SBF’s family has been quietly navigating political avenues to seek clemency, according to reports.
There is also speculation among many crypto users that SBF may be attempting to obtain a pardon from U.S. President Donald Trump. The president issued a pardon to former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao in October, claiming that “what he did is not even a crime.”
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