Protection attorneys argued, alternatively, that Bankman-Fried did not intend to defraud prospects, had proven regret and had tried to resolve FTX’s chapter after it started, saying the DOJ’s proposal was excessive. Their supporting letters spoke extra to Bankman-Fried as an individual than to FTX and its collapse, with writers pointing to his veganism and anecdotes from his youth. A number of letters mentioned Bankman-Fried seemed to be neurodivergent and thus may not have understood the severity of the scenario. Former New York Police Division officer Carmine Simpson, his fellow inmate in a Brooklyn detention facility who pleaded responsible to soliciting a minor, wrote a letter saying Bankman-Fried, a vegan, has been compelled to eat poorly in jail.
