The lawyers of disgraced cryptocurrency mogul and former billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried are alleging that he isn't getting enough Adderall to be able to concentrate during his trial.
Bankman-Fried receives one dose of the stimulant early in the morning before court officers drive him from his detention center in Brooklyn to the federal courthouse in Manhattan, where he is standing trial on charges that he allegedly stole more than $8 billion from customers and investors of his cryptocurrency exchange FTX. (Related: Sam Bankman-Fried tried to recoup losses by opening fake accounts using IDs of Thai prostitutes.)
His lawyers allege that the Adderall wears off by the time the trial begins at 9:30 a.m., making it difficult for him to properly focus on the trial.
"Mr. Bankman-Fried has been doing his best to remain focused during the trial for the past two weeks, despite not having his prescribed dose of Adderall during trial hours," wrote Bankman-Fried's lawyers in their petition to Judge Lewis Kaplan.
Adderall is a stimulant used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD. Lawyer Mark Cohen, one of Bankman-Fried's team, claimed that the defense team's "growing concern" is that Bankman-Fried's lack of Adderall is preventing him from properly concentrating and meaningfully participating in the presentation of the defense's case.
"For over five years, Mr. Bankman-Fried has been prescribed Emsam 9mg/24 hrs transdermal patch for the treatment of depression," wrote Cohen. "For the past three years, Mr. Bankman-Fried has been prescribed Adderall 10mg tablets, 3-4x/day for the treatment of ADHD."
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Sam Bankman-Fried considering testifying at his own trial
The defense is claiming that steady access to Adderall is essential for Bankman-Fried, who is seriously considering testifying as a defense witness.
Bankman-Fried's lawyers are proposing that the Federal Bureau of Prisons provide him with a 12-hour extended-release 20-milligram dose of the drug in the morning right before he heads off to federal court.
Kaplan, speaking for the bureau, noted following the end of trial proceedings on Monday, Oct. 14, that the extended-release Adderall would be provided to Bankman-Fried starting Thursday, Oct. 19.
He added that he had not observed any problem with Bankman-Fried in court and would proceed with the trial as planned on Tuesday and Wednesday, despite Cohen asking for an adjournment until Thursday, which was denied.
Kaplan also denied a request by the defense to provide Bankman-Fried with Adderall during the trial until he received the modified drugs on Thursday. "I can't have lawyers giving drugs to people on trial," he remarked.
This is not the first time Bankman-Fried and his lawyers have written petitions demanding greater access to Adderall. Back in August when Bankman-Fried was remanded to custody in the Brooklyn detention center for violating the terms of his bail, his attorneys asked Kaplan to grant him "uninterrupted access" to Adderall. This petition even included a letter from Bankman-Fried's psychiatrist.
Read the latest news coming out of Bankman-Fried's trial at CryptoCult.news.
Watch this clip from Next News Network as Elijah Schaffer reports on one time Bankman-Fried made a similarly ludicrous request from prison.
This video is from the News Clips channel on Brighteon.com.
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