NEW YORK (NEWSnet/AP) — Crypto entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced Thursday to 25 years in prison for his role in a massive fraud that unraveled with the collapse of FTX.

U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan said the sentence reflected “that there is a risk that this man will be in position to do something very bad in the future. And it’s not a trivial risk at all.”

He added that it was “for the purpose of disabling him to the extent that can appropriately be done for a significant period of time.”

Given a chance to speak, Bankman-Fried stood and apologized in a rambling statement, saying: “A lot of people feel really let down. And they were very let down. And I’m sorry about that. I’m sorry about what happened at every stage.”

He added that, “My useful life is probably over. It’s been over for a while now, from before my arrest.”

Bankman-Fried, 32, was convicted in November of fraud and conspiracy, in a dramatic fall from a year earlier when the company was among the world’s most popular platforms for trading digital currency.

A jury found that Bankman-Fried illegally used money from FTX depositors to cover his expenses, which included purchasing luxury properties in the Caribbean, alleged bribes to Chinese officials and private planes.

Prosecutors recommended a prison sentence of 40 to 50 years.

Bankman-Fried’s attorneys, friends and family urged leniency, saying he is unlikely to reoffend again. They also say FTX's investors have largely recovered their funds — a claim disputed by bankruptcy lawyers, FTX and its creditors.

Bankman-Fried was worth billions of dollars on paper as the co-founder and CEO of FTX, which was the second-largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world at one time.

But the collapse of cryptocurrency prices in 2022 took its toll on FTX, and ultimately led to its downfall.

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