Alex Mashinsky, the former CEO and co-founder of Defunct Crypto lend Celsius Network, repels what he calls an attempted “Venom lacet” of federal prosecutors to obtain a de facto sentence. In a response of May 5 to the memorandum of the United States Ministry of Justice, the defendant asked the court to grant him a sentence of 366 days maximum.
According to the memo, the United States Ministry of Justice requests a 20-year prison sentence before the sentence of Mashinsky, scheduled for May 8 before a New York district court.
The 59 -year -old crypto executive pleaded guilty in December 2024 to accusations of fraud and manipulation of the raw materials market, admitting that he won $ 48 million by selling cel tokens before Celsius collapsed in June 2022. Federal prosecutors say that Mashinsky's actions were not mistakes, but the choices of trumpers for investors misleading and their flight.
Prosecutors ask for a severe sentence, Mashinsky does not agree
The memorandum of determining the penalty of the DoJ, posted on April 28, accuses Mashinsky of orchestrating a fraudulent regime which left thousands of financially devastated investors. In their file, the prosecutors declared that his guilt pleading meant that he “deliberately targeted real people,” every day “and” destroyed lives “through his actions.
As reported By Cryptopolitan, the representation of the complainants listed hundreds of statements of victims collected a few days earlier, on April 23, which tell how individuals have placed their confidence, and in many cases, their savings of life, in Cellsius after Mashinsky assured them that the platform was safe.
Federal lawyers argue that Mashinsky's misconduct was intentional and sustained, which will make it a predatory campaign rooted in greed.
Mashinsky's legal team in answer Note reprimanded the request for the accusation. They argue that the recommended sentence is equivalent to a sanction “died in prison” for a first non -violent offender.
Instead, they argued with the court not to impose more than a year, saying that the 30th anniversary of Mashinsky's commercial history and its personal history was sufficient reason to see that the accused was “clean”.
“”Government submission does not take into account the fact that Alex is a real person with complexities, subtleties and shades, and rather adopts a black and white approach, blunt and reductive to describe their conduct in wild and primordial terms generally reserved for the most violent criminals», Proposed lawyers.
They also mentioned the persecution of his family as Soviet Jewish refuses, his military service in the Israeli defense forces and his entrepreneurial history in strongly regulated industries before founding Celsius.
The Defense file maintains that prosecutors have created a distorted caricature of Mashinsky by strongly based on hearsay and internal communications from other Celsius employees.
According to La Défense, 72 exhibitions used in the Doj's submission include Slack messages of staff who had no idea of Mashinsky's decisions or knowledge. Lawyers said prosecutors have ignored employees' statements that “contradict their guilty story. “”
Alex Plea Deal and Personal Steal
Mashinsky's guilt advocacy The federal prosecutors came nearly a year after a year placed seven charges against him in July 2023. As part of the advocacy agreement, he admitted that he had manipulated the CEL market price and committed a fraud on raw materials.
In the May 5 file, Mashinsky's lawyers emphasize that their client has respected all the conditions of the agreement. They argue that he did not deny the responsibility and did not act in an incompatible manner with the terms of his plea.
“Alex will appear before this courtyard on May 8, chastise and humiliated,” said the memorandum. His lawyers reiterated his remorse, saying that he has read the letter from each victim and is “tortured every day” by the pain he caused.
“”The document depicts a man devastated by guilt, shame of his misdeeds, and eager to spend the rest of his life to make amends“Said the deposit.
Defense also claims that Mashinsky was made to the collapse of Celsius far beyond its real role. “”Alex is inserted as a scapegoat for each business action, each group decision, each unanimous vote“Wrote his lawyers.
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