U.S. federal prosecutors have postponed the criminal sentencing of Binance founder and ex-CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao to April 30, 2024. The sentencing hearing was originally scheduled for February 23 after CZ pleaded guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act. He faces up to 18 months in prison.
CZ Criminal Sentencing Postponed
A U.S. court has rescheduled the sentencing of Changpeng Zhao, with no apparent explanation provided for the two-month delay. The notice of rescheduled hearing was filed in a Seattle Federal Court on Monday.
Zhao faces potentially up to 18 months (or a year and a half) in federal prison, though prosecutors indicated that he could be subject to a harsher sentence than previously expected.
“The defense claims that Mr. Zhao faces merely a “brief” sentence and has no incentive to flee. The reality is that the top-end of the Guidelines range may be as high as 18 months, and the United States is free to argue for any sentence up to the statutory maximum of ten years,” the filing notes.
CZ resigned from Binance, the exchange he founded in 2017, in November 2023 as part of the company’s settlement with various U.S. regulators and law enforcement entities. Richard Teng took over as CEO of the world’s largest crypto exchange. The company also agreed to pay a record-breaking $4.3 billion in penalties and make a “complete exit” from the U.S. market as part of its historic resolution.
Many crypto observers are now pondering the possible reasons behind the sentencing postponement and its implications for Zhao and Binance.
The Legal Hydra Facing CZ
Despite also paying a $50 million personal fine and being freed on a $175 million bond in Seattle, U.S., Judge Richard Jones of the Western District of Washington deemed Zhao a significant flight risk, prohibiting the former crypto exec from returning to the United Arab Emirates, where he, his children and his partner all live, before his sentencing. As ZyCrypto reported earlier, Zhao had even offered up all of his $4.5 billion equity in Binance.US as security for his timely return to the U.S.
CZ’s defense counsel will likely seek to avoid jail time completely by requesting alternative sentencing options such as probation or house arrest. However, given the gravity of Binance’s anti-money laundering and sanction violations, a lengthy sentence can still be expected.
It will be interesting to see how this CZ saga will evolve.
