Prosecutors deny pressuring FTX executives to plead guilty

Danielle Sassoon, one of the United States prosecutors who helped convict former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, testified on Thursday at an evidentiary hearing related to the plea agreement of former FTX Digital Markets co-CEO Ryan Salame. The hearing, held in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, centered on whether prosecutors improperly influenced Salame's guilty plea - which ultimately had an impact on the criminal case of his former partner, Michelle Bond.
Mr. Salame was sentenced to more than seven years in prison after pleading guilty to campaign finance violations and operating an unlicensed money transfer business. His guilty plea became the focus of Bond's legal team, which said prosecutors had "induced" Mr. Salame to cooperate with the investigation, unfairly exposing Bond to criminal charges.
Ms. Sasson denied that claim. Ms. Sasson is understood to have testified that if Ms. Salame pleaded guilty, her team "may not continue to investigate [Ms. Salame's] conduct," but she stressed that the government had not misled Ms. Salame about possible outcomes. "My job is not to set up a trap to lure people into confessing," she said.