Degree Celsius founder Alex Mashinsky is asking for the 12-year penalty for cryptocurrency fraud to be abolished

Alex Mashinsky, founder and former CEO of defunct cryptocurrency lending platform Celsius, is seeking to have his 12-year prison sentence overturned. According to the new request submitted In the District Court for the Southern District of New York.

The eviction motion, handwritten by Mashinsky, cited ineffective counsel and “fruit of a poisonous tree” as reasons to overturn the judgment.

Mashinsky, who pleaded guilty to commodity and securities fraud charges, attached additional materials to support his claims, stating that his ineffective counsel was due in part to “financial duress that created an absolute and unavoidable conflict of interest with the client.”

“The root of counsel’s deficiencies lies in Mukasey & Young LLP’s undisclosed financial distress,” Mashinsky’s motion for habeas corpus said. “This ordeal has created a conflict of interest that has permeated every strategic decision counsel has made from the beginning of representing petitioner.”

This conflict was the company’s dealings with FTX founder and former CEO Sam Bankman Fried, known as SBF. Mashinsky said it created an “irreconcilable conflict given that it was the market manipulation of the CEL and StETH tokens by SBF” that caused damage to Celsius, which Later withdrawals were temporarily stoppedleaving customers without access to billions in deposits.

Shortly after Celsius stopped withdrawals, it was He had to file for bankruptcy In an attempt to stabilize its business. A year into the chaos surrounding his company, so was Mashinsky He was arrested and hit with a host of charges from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).And some of them claimed that He defrauded clients of $42 million.

He later pleaded guilty, He reportedly said in court, “I know what I did was wrong, and I want to do everything I can to make it right.”

Although some The creditors wanted harsher penaltiesIt was Mashinsky He was sentenced to 12 years in prison for his crimes. Now he wants to see that sentence repealed.

Last month, Mashinsky was officially banned from the cryptocurrency industry Part of a $10 million settlement with the Federal Trade Commission. The regulator initially obtained a $4.7 billion judgment against him, though the bulk of the judgment was put on hold, requiring only $10 million to be paid.