After Binance founder Zhao Changpeng pleaded guilty in November last year, his sentencing hearing is scheduled to take place on April 30th. Due to Zhao’s guilty plea and cooperation, some legal experts believe that he may avoid imprisonment. However, former prosecutors believe that Binance’s involvement in money laundering cases related to Hamas may be detrimental to Zhao Changpeng.
Last November, Binance reached a settlement agreement with the US Department of Justice, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and other institutions, admitting guilt and agreeing to pay a $4.3 billion fine. Zhao Changpeng, the founder, admitted to violating US anti-money laundering laws and resigned as CEO of Binance. He also paid $175 million to secure bail.
According to Cointelegraph’s report, Zhao Changpeng will appear in court on April 30th, and Judge Richard Jones will hear statements from the prosecutor and Zhao Changpeng’s lawyer at the US District Court for the Western District of Washington. This is one of the most anticipated legal proceedings in the cryptocurrency field since former FTX founder SBF was convicted and sentenced.
According to the US sentencing guidelines, Richard Jones could sentence Zhao Changpeng to up to 10 years in prison. However, the recommended sentence for the charges he faces is 12 to 18 months. Despite SBF being sentenced to 25 years last month, some believe that Zhao Changpeng may not be imprisoned due to his guilty plea and cooperation.
Moe Vela, who served as the Administrative Assistant to Vice President Biden, stated that regardless of whether the judge imposes a severe sentence on Zhao Changpeng, US authorities may try to send a message to illegal participants in the cryptocurrency field through this case. However, he speculated that Zhao Changpeng may receive leniency from the judge due to his cooperation and guilty plea.
Mark Bini, a former Assistant US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, believes that unlike SBF’s criminal case, Zhao Changpeng’s case is more like “regulatory violations.” However, the Hamas attack on Israel may influence the judge’s decision regarding Zhao Changpeng:
In November last year, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen criticized Binance for facilitating over 1.5 million virtual currency transactions that violated US sanctions. Binance allowed transactions related to terrorist organizations such as the Hamas military wing, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Al Qaeda, and the Islamic State (IS), but never submitted any suspicious activity reports.