Living on "bread and water" alone? FTX founder maintains innocence

Source: beincrypto; Compilation: Blockchain Knight

Disgraced FTX founder SBF (Sam Bankman-Fried) has again pleaded not guilty in US federal court and says prison food is preventing him from preparing for his upcoming trial in October.

"The former billionaire, who made his first court appearance since his bail was revoked on Aug. 11, was ushered into court in shackles and a beige uniform," the report said.

On August 22, SBF's lawyers told Manhattan federal court that he could only survive on "bread and water" while in prison. It has been almost two weeks since the court revoked SBF's bail on August 11 for "alleged witness tampering".

Despite his request for a vegetarian diet, the report noted that a "lack of adequate food and medicine" in prisons hindered SBF's preparations for the trial.

SBF entered a plea of "not guilty" to seven counts of fraud and conspiracy.

Prosecutors are reopening charges of violating U.S. campaign finance law, though not as a separate charge, to add to their wire fraud charges. The charge comes after prosecutors claimed SBF misappropriated client funds to foster political connections.

In late July, the charges were initially dropped after a Bahamian court said they were not grounds for extradition. However, prosecutors have recast the allegations this month and presented them as additional evidence.

After the hearing, SBF reportedly spoke with his mother, Barbara Fried, a professor at Stanford Law School, on the low partition between the inside and outside of the courtroom.

As tensions mount as the October trial looms, SBF and his lawyers appear to be working hard to prepare for the trial.

Recently, SBF's lawyers asked the judge to let him out on a weekday so they could focus on preparing his defense, but the judge rejected the request.

However, on Aug. 22, SBF was allowed a brief release of 6.5 hours, during which time he was supervised in court and worked with his lawyers to prepare for his upcoming trial.

Before that, U.S. prosecutors had given jurors instructions on how to conduct the trial.

The jury was asked to treat each charge differently, and was also asked not to allow a verdict on one charge to affect its decision on the other six.