Judge Kaplan Denies Sam Bankman-Fried's Bid for a New Trial, Calling Claims Baseless

Key Takeaways:

• Judge Lewis Kaplan denied Sam Bankman-Fried’s (SBF) Rule 33 motion on April 28, 2026, calling the new evidence claims “baseless.”
• The ruling closes the district court chapter for SBF, who still faces a live Second Circuit appeal from his 25-year sentence.
• SBF’s judicial reassignment request against Judge Kaplan remains pending, keeping one legal avenue open for the defense.

SBF Denied New Trial

U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who presided over Bankman-Fried’s 2023 fraud trial and sentenced him to 25 years in prison, issued the ruling in New York, according to court records reported by Bloomberg and Inner City Press. The judge described Bankman-Fried’s arguments as “baseless on multiple independently sufficient levels.”

The motion, filed pro se around Feb. 10, 2026, asked the court to grant a new trial under Rule 33 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. Bankman-Fried alleged that new witness testimony from former FTX executive Ryan Salame and an individual identified as Daniel Chapsky undermined the government’s case.

Prosecutors pushed back hard in March 2026, arguing the claims had no merit. Judge Kaplan agreed, finding that the purported new evidence would not likely produce an acquittal given the weight of proof presented at trial.

Before the ruling came down, Bankman-Fried sent a handwritten letter to the court on April 22, 2026, asking to withdraw the motion without prejudice. He gave two reasons: he had not been given enough time to respond to the government’s opposition, and he did not believe he would get a fair hearing from Judge Kaplan.

The judge denied that request, too, and ruled on the motion anyway.

Bankman-Fried’s letter also addressed questions the court had raised about who wrote the filing. He denied improper ghostwriting but acknowledged that his mother, Barbara Fried, provided editorial suggestions and helped print the document. Judge Kaplan had scrutinized the submission because Fried is not a licensed attorney.

Bankman-Fried was convicted in November 2023 on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy tied to the collapse of FTX and his trading firm Alameda Research. Billions in customer funds went missing. He was sentenced in March 2024.

His direct appeal is pending before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, with oral arguments held in 2025. That case remains active and is separate from the Rule 33 motion Judge Kaplan just denied.

A request to have Judge Kaplan removed from the case on bias grounds is also still pending. Bankman-Fried reserved the right to refile the new trial motion once that reassignment request and his direct appeal are resolved.

For now, his 25-year sentence stands. No changes to his incarceration status have been ordered.

The latest ruling closes the district court door on this particular legal effort, though Bankman-Fried retains options at the appellate level. How the Second Circuit handles his direct appeal will likely shape what comes next.