Sam Bankman-Fried, the incarcerated former CEO of now-defunct FTX exchange is seeking a new trial after being found guilty on multiple fraud charges following the implosion of his crypto empire. This comes days after firing his lawyer and opting to represent himself. SBF’s Mother Files A Pro Se Motion For New U.S. Trial According to a filing submitted Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the former executive’s mother, Stanford Law ethics professor Barbara Fried, lodged a pro se motion seeking a new trial on her son’s behalf. In an accompanying memorandum, Bankman-Fried alleged that the Department of Justice had withheld key information and requested the recusal of the presiding judge, Lewis Kaplan. “Sam Bankman-Fried was indicted on the false allegation that he had stolen customer assets from the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, leaving customers with billions of dollars in losses,” the filing reads. “Since the trial, multiple people have spoken out about how a weaponized DOJ pressured them into withdrawing as witnesses for Bankman-Fried’s defense…” Under federal rules, motions for a new trial on grounds other than newly uncovered evidence must be submitted within 14 days of a guilty verdict. Bankman-Fried was convicted more than two years ago, when a Manhattan jury found him guilty on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy. As such, he will have to demonstrate he has compelling new evidence to warrant a fresh trial. Bankman-Fried is serving a 25-year prison term tied to the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, which was valued at over $30 billion before its failure in 2022, as well as the misuse of roughly $10 billion in customer assets at FTX and its sister trading company, Alameda Research. Advertisement He filed an appeal in September 2024, arguing that he had been effectively “presumed guilty” by multiple parties connected to the case, including the media, prosecutors, the court, and the FTX debtor estate. Court records also show that on Friday, the former crypto executive dismissed his appellate attorney, Jason Driscoll. Bankman-Fried’s 35-page Tuesday filing was submitted as a pro se motion, indicating that he is acting without legal representation. SBF has made several posts on X in recent weeks, via a proxy, focused primarily on alleging he was the victim of a “lawfare machine” directed at the crypto industry by the Biden administration. Bankman-Fried has attempted to align himself with President Donald Trump since Trump’s re-election in a bid to secure a pardon. However, the President recently clarified that he wouldn’t consider clemency for the former crypto billionaire, despite pardoning some high-profile people connected to the crypto industry, including former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao and the operator of the darknet market Silk Road Ross Ulbricht .