Sam Bankman-Fried files 11th hour plea for mercy as he faces 50 years in prison: 'He's a vegan, gentle, and cares about doing good for the world'

Sam Bankman-Fried's defense has filed a collection of letters from interested parties on Tuesday asking for leniency for the former FTX CEO - who is being sentenced this week. 

A friend of his from his MIT days said 'vegan' Bankman-Fried would be 'an asset to society' if given a lenient sentence, in the new court documents.

'Sam felt deeply for every living being, farm animals included - so much so that he adhered to a vegan diet and convinced several others in our living group to become vegan, too. He took every actionable step he could to reduce suffering,' the friend wrote.

Bankman-Fried's vegan lifestyle has been well documented, with his lawyers complaining in August 2023 that he was subsisting on bread and water in jail because officials wouldn't comply with his dietary restrictions.

Sam Bankman-Fried is pictured leaving court. He is being sentenced this Thursday

Another friend, this time a college roommate of the crypto founder, had a similar story for the court, again referencing his deep affinity for farm animals.

He also gave Bankman-Fried high marks on doing his chores around the house, saying he 'consistently did so well.' 

Two parents of children on the spectrum - either with Asperger's and autism - wrote sympathetic letters describing their own struggles raising neurodivergent kids. 

One parent wrote that she didn't know her son was on the spectrum until he was 31. She explained that children who have autism often shut down when presented with chaotic situations. 

'Though I have never met Sam, I firmly believe that while he may be an MIT grad - he did not fully understand the scope of what was going on and did not have malicious intent.'

The FTX collapse in November 2022 was certainly chaotic. It lasted for over a week, culminating in the exchange shutting down and descending into bankruptcy.

Just three days after tweeting 'FTX is fine. Assets are fine,' Bankman-Fried finally admitted on Twitter, now X, that he f**ked up and that he 'should have done better.'

And just a day after he admitted fault on November 11, 2022, Bankman-Fried was out as CEO and FTX filed for bankruptcy.

A parent whose son lost $130,000 on FTX also shared her thoughts with the court, writing that she hopes Bankman-Fried 'will be given a sentence in the range of 70 months'. 

This is right in line with the prison time the defense has asked the judge to impose. 

Sam Bankman-Fried, the jailed founder of bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, is sworn in as he appears in court for the first time since his November fraud conviction

Bankman-Fried's last-ditch attempt at leniency comes amid speculation around how many years the former FTX CEO will be incarcerated - and where he will be jailed.

Prosecutors from the Southern District of New York are asking for Bankman-Fried to get 40 to 50 years behind bars - but the defense is requesting a much lower range of just over six and half years.

Experts generally believe that he will serve at least twenty years on the low end and 50 years on the high end - and that he is likely to end up in a medium security jail.

Christopher Zoukis, an federal prisons expert, told DailyMail.com he believes Bankman-Fried will likely be sent to a West Coast jail, like FCI Herlong or Mendota. 

Zoukis serves as the managing director of the Zoukis Consulting Group, a firm that, among other things, prepares soon-to-be federal inmates by educating them about life in federal prison. 

The consultancy has clients in minimum security prisons, all the way up to ADX Florence in Colorado, a supermax facility housing some of the nation's most notorious criminals.

Zoukis explained that the Federal Bureau of Prisons applies a security point value to prisoners that in part determines which kind of prison they'll be housed in.

The sentence length also greatly informs where a convict will end up. 

Generally, public safety factor guidelines stipulate that if someone has 10 or more years left to serve, they need to end up in a low security facility. More than twenty years demands at least a medium-security designation, while more than 30 years requires at least a high security placement.

In Bankman-Fried's case, the Bureau of Prisons could apply a public safety factor waiver - something Zoukis explained also happened for Bernie Madoff. This allowed Madoff, despite his 150-year sentence, to serve his time in a medium security prison instead of a high security one.

With that possibility on the table, Zoukis said that even with a sentence of over 30 years, Bankman-Fried is likely to land at a medium security prison just like Madoff.