John P. Fishwick Jr., a former U.S. attorney for the Western District of Virginia, said prosecutors still had “overwhelming evidence against Sam Bankman-Fried.” He added that the removal of the campaign finance charge could work to the government’s advantage by making it a simpler fraud case to present to a jury.
If convicted on the securities fraud and wire fraud charges, Mr. Bankman-Fried faces the prospect of being sentenced to dozens of years in prison.
It is not clear what impact the decision by prosecutors will have on others associated with Mr. Bankman-Fried, who are being investigated for campaign finance violations — including Nishad Singh, a former FTX executive who is a key cooperating witness.
In February, Mr. Singh, 27, became the third former top lieutenant of Mr. Bankman-Fried to plead guilty to a variety of charges and work with prosecutors. The company’s former director of engineering, he pleaded guilty to taking part in a scheme overseen by Mr. Bankman-Fried to funnel tens of millions in illegal campaign donations to mostly Democratic candidates and political action committees.
Andrew Goldstein, a lawyer for Mr. Singh, was not immediately available for comment.
Mr. Fishwick said Mr. Singh “has no valid reason to withdraw his guilty plea” on the campaign finance charge. Doing so is never an easy task, he added.
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