Former Celsius CEO Challenges DOJ’s 20-Year Sentencing Proposal Ahead of May 8 Hearing
Alex Mashinsky, co-founder and former CEO of bankrupt crypto lender Celsius, is pushing back against the U.S. Department of Justice’s recommendation for a 20-year prison sentence. His legal team filed a memorandum on May 5 requesting a reduced one-year term, describing the prosecution’s proposal as a "death-in-prison sentence."
The dispute comes as federal prosecutors submitted over 200 victim impact statements from Celsius users detailing financial and emotional harm from the platform’s collapse. Mashinsky’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for May 8 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.