Sam Bankman-Fried Challenges Court's Sentencing Guidelines

II. The Defendant’s Challenges to the Guidelines Calculation Lack Merit

In his sentencing submission, the defendant makes several challenges to the Guidelines calculation set forth in the PSR. Specifically, he challenges the calculation of the loss amount, the enhancement for fraudulent action in the course of a bankruptcy proceeding, the enhancement for conduct outside of the United States, the gross receipts from a financial institution enhancement, the abuse of trust enhancement, and the obstruction of justice enhancement. While all of these objections lack merit, it bears noting that with the exception of his challenge to the loss amount, none of his other objections will affect the calculation of the total offense level, which would be 43 with or without those enhancements. However, even though the objections are immaterial to the calculation of the Guidelines, the defendant is wrong on the facts and the law, and in any event the Court should consider the conduct underlying the enhancement in imposing a sentence.