Ryan Salame, former co-chief executive officer of FTX Digital Markets Ltd., exits federal court in New York, US, on Tuesday, May 28, 2024.
Yuki Iwamura | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Ryan Salame, a former top lieutenant at FTX under founder Sam Bankman-Fried, asked a judge to void the deal he reached with the government and his guilty plea.
In a filing docketed on Wednesday, lawyers for Salame asked that his conviction be vacated, alleging that the government breached a key piece of the deal, not to investigate his partner, Michelle Bond.
“The Government used the plea negotiations to threaten Salame’s domestic partner and the mother of his child,” the motion says.
“In an effort to induce Salame’s plea, Government lawyers conveyed they would discontinue investigating Bond if Salame pleaded guilty. Considering Salame’s manifest desire to protect Bond, Salame responded by agreeing to enter into a plea agreement,” his lawyers write.
According to the filing, the government has re-opened its probe into Bond.
In a post on X, Salame writes, “It’s all true but I just made a court filing I’m pretty nervous about because I know it means the most powerful body in the world is going to come at me and my loved ones again, but I’m hoping it encourages more people to be honest and tell the truth and expose un-American”
In May, the ex-FTX exec was sentenced to 90 months, or seven and a half years, in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Salame has also been ordered to pay more than $6 million in forfeiture and more than $5 million in restitution.
Salame pled guilty to charges, but notably he was not a cooperating witness for the government. Salame did, however, testify in the criminal trial of his former boss, Sam Bankman-Fried.
Salame is due to surrender in October.
This is a developing story, please check back for updates.
— CNBC’s Dan Mangan contributed to this report.