The US Department of Justice (DOJ) claims that sufficient access to a laptop has been granted to the founder of the now-defunct crypto exchange FTX.
The DOJ claims that Sam Bankman-Fried can now review the discovery materials relevant to the criminal charges that have been filed against him.
The prosecutors
The former chief of FTX is known as SBF and has been sent to the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) after his bail was revoked.
His trial is scheduled to take place at the beginning of October and he is currently preparing for charges of conspiracy to commit commodities securities fraud and wire fraud, amongst others.
A federal judge had demanded a report regarding the living conditions that Bankman-Fried is dealing with during his detention.
According to the prosecutors, an air-gapped laptop has been given to the defendant in a visiting room on weekends and weekdays during specific hours.
On Tuesday, the prosecutors filed the letter in which they said that SBF was permitted to use the legal visiting room since August 31st, 2023.
From Monday to Friday, he can use the air-gapped laptop from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., while on weekends, he is permitted to do so from 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
More claims
In the previous month, attorneys representing SBF had claimed that their client was the only one with full knowledge about the massive amount of information pertaining to the criminal case.
They said that he would require access to vital online documents to prepare for his criminal trial properly.
As per the prosecutors, there have not been any issues or problems reported up to this point related to the software applications or the functionality of the USB ports.
Furthermore, the letter further stated that in response to the request of the defense counsel, SBF had also been permitted to use another air-gapped laptop for more convenience.
The DOJ also added that they had conducted three separate internet speed tests at different times of the day in the cell block area and they showed that 34Mbps was the download transfer rate.
This was during the morning as well as early afternoon. As for late afternoon, the speed was 7.5Mbps and the prosecution said that it was suitable for reviewing activities.
They also said that the laptop had also been given a battery upgrade, which now lasts for 8 hours.
The defense
The legal team of the former FTX CEO said that even in this setup, their client would not be able to prepare for his defense.
Cohen and Gresser LLP highlighted a specific incident that occurred on September 1st when Bankman-Fried had been ordered by the MDC staff to leave early.
Therefore, about 4.5 hours of time had been lost. The defense said that this was not what had been promised by the government.
They further added that it was difficult for them to communicate with their client and their visits also eat up valuable time that can be used for discovery review.
Therefore, they reiterated their request for temporary release and claimed that the government’s plan was not a practical one.