Judge Lewis Kaplan chose a much harsher sentence for the disgraced crypto mogul than the defense's recommendation of five to seven years, based on their argument that SBF should be granted leniency because customers will be paid back the dollar-value of their holdings at the time the company declared bankruptcy.
“He knew it was wrong, he knew it was criminal, he regrets he made a very bad bet about the likelihood of getting caught," Kaplan said.
https://www.axios.com/2024/03/28/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-prison-sentence