Two years in prison for Caroline Ellison?
You must be kidding. This is just a slap on the wrist for someone who had such a significant role in one of the largest financial frauds in recent memory. I mean, come on, we are talking billions of dollars here; this is not some petty theft.
Now, Ellison was right at the center of this whole scam as the chief executive of Alameda Research.
This was no lowly-ranked employee falling into something she didn't quite understand, on the contrary, she called shots right next to Sam Bankman-Fried. And she gets away with two years?
Laughable.
Well, yes, she cooperated with the prosecutors. But what does one do when one is caught red-handed? She didn't come forward out of the goodness of her heart before the whole thing blew up; she started singing when the ship was going down.
Of course, there is that $11 billion forfeiture. Yes, that does sound like a lot, but seriously, all it is at this point is Monopoly money. It's not like she could have it in the bank anywhere. It's part of the whole sordid mess that FTX and Alameda were.
She's not giving up anything of value.
I'm not saying she should rot in jail forever, but two years is less than some people receive for non-violent drug offenses. It's an atrocious message being sent about white-collar crime - if you're smart enough and well-connected enough, you can literally get away with stealing billions, if not scot-free then nearly so.
And speaking to the "she was manipulated" angle:
Ellison was a grown woman in a position of power. She made her choices. The victim card now is just pathetic. She was not some clueless intern, she was CEO of a major company in the crypto space.
Her cooperation, if the judge's words are to be taken literally, was unprecedented.
I find that astounding. What, pray tell, was so special that she did? She testified against Bankman-Fried? Well, yeah, that is what happens when you flip on your co-conspirator. That is not exactly Nobel Prize-worthy behavior.
It's all just special treatment, if that had happened with some commoner in a convenience store, they would be facing far longer sentences. But since it's crypto and some high-profile case, now all of a sudden we're impressed with her "cooperation" and "remorse."
And yet, simultaneously, while Ellison here is taking it on the lam, quite literally thousands of people lost their life savings because of this scheme, actual human beings who had sunk their money into FTX.
What about them?
Sending her to prison for two years equates to a kick in the teeth for each and every one of those victims.
The world of cryptocurrencies is already considered some sort of Wild West, and verdicts like this don't contribute in the least to changing this status.
If we want this industry taken seriously, then we have got to start holding individuals accountable when they commit fraud on this scale. Two years in a minimum-security prison isn't accountability, it is a joke.
Rehabilitation and second chances are great, but man.
This sentence does not fit the crime. It would do absolutely nothing to deter white-collar crimes in the future, nor does it bring any real justice to the victims. It is just one more example of how the system works when one is rich and connected.