J6 insurrectionists unsuccessfully used autism in their legal defense.
In a last-ditch effort to get a more lenient sentence, lawyers for disgraced CEO Sam Bankman-Fried are citing his autism as one reason why he should get five to six years in prison instead of the maximum of 110 years laid out by sentencing guidelines.
In a sentencing memo filed Tuesday, lawyers for SBF asked a judge to sentence him to 63 to 78 months in jail in part because he is “uniquely vulnerable in a prison population.” His lawyers claim that SBF’s autism spectrum disorder puts him at higher risk of violence and extortion by other inmates because of how he acts, according to the filing.
“Because individuals with ASD (autism spectrum disorder) may have difficulty responding to certain social cues and contexts, they are at risk from both other inmates and prison guards who may view their failure to respond ‘appropriately’ to social cues as disrespectful or disobedient,” SBF’s lawyers write in the memo.
Bankman-Fried would also have trouble understanding and acting in accordance with any “unwritten rules,” that rely on social cues and differ from the actual rules of the prison, according to the filing.
Another day, another finance bro like SBF using the fact he is #ActuallyAutistic as a means to get out of prison while tons of Black and Latino undiagnosed men languish in prison. https://t.co/CCrrHmJJwD
— Eric Michael Garcia (@EricMGarcia) February 28, 2024
