FTX Co-Founder Gary Wang Avoids Jail Time, Gets Unsupervised Release

In a surprising turn of events, former FTX executive Gary Wang won't serve any jail time for his role in the crypto exchange's downfall. On Wednesday, a U. S. district judge sentenced him to three years of unsupervised release and time served for four fraud-related counts. The judge, Lewis Kaplan, praised Wang's cooperation, saying he's never seen anything like it before. Wang must also forfeit $11 billion, the same as other co-defendants. In court, Wang, with his parents and pregnant wife present, vowed to spend his life making amends. He faced a potential 50 years in prison for crimes like wire fraud and securities fraud. Wang testified against his former boss, FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, who was sentenced to 25 years. Wang and Bankman-Fried were fraternity brothers at MIT. Wang and Bankman-Fried were accused of transferring $546 million from Alameda to buy Robinhood shares in 2022. Wang claims he didn't benefit from this. The government supported leniency for Wang due to his cooperation as a witness. He immediately began working with prosecutors after FTX's collapse and even developed a tool to detect illegal crypto activities.