Michelle Bond, partner of former FTX Digital Markets co-CEO Ryan Salame, pleaded not guilty to four charges of campaign finance violations.
Bond was indicted for allegedly concealing the source of funds for her 2022 U.S. House of Representatives run and making false statements to the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
At the hearing in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Bond faced charges of conspiracy to cause unlawful campaign contributions, causing and accepting excessive contributions, unlawful corporate contributions, and conduit contributions. She remains free on a $1-million bond, restricted from traveling outside the continental U.S.
The charges stem from Bond’s failed Republican campaign for New York’s 1st Congressional District in 2022, where Salame allegedly arranged a $400,000 payment from FTX to fund her run. Bond is accused of misreporting the origin of the funds to the FEC and a congressional committee.
Salame, who pleaded guilty in September 2023 to conspiracy charges related to unlawful political contributions and fraud against the FEC, was sentenced to 90 months in prison. However, he has petitioned to vacate his plea, claiming it was based on an agreement with prosecutors not to pursue an investigation against Bond, the mother of his child.
Judge Lewis Kaplan is considering Salame’s petition, though Salame is still scheduled to report to prison on October 11. Bond’s trial date has not yet been set, but a pretrial conference is scheduled for January 2025.
Of the key individuals named in the FTX and Alameda Research criminal indictments, Salame and former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) have been sentenced to prison. SBF, serving a 25-year sentence, is appealing his conviction.
Other former executives, including Caroline Ellison, Nishad Singh, and Gary Wang, are awaiting sentencing hearings, with Ellison’s set for September 24 and the others scheduled for later this year.
Ellison is scheduled for sentencing on September 24 before Judge Lewis Kaplan. Both her legal team and prosecutors have requested leniency, with her lawyers seeking a sentence of time served and three years of supervised release. The filing also cites her “earnest remorse” and the intense public scrutiny she has faced, particularly after Bankman-Fried released her private journals to the media.
