FTX wives' club: Michelle Bond trial date locked in while SBF chases pardon escape hatch 🎰

Michelle Bond, wife of former FTX Digital Markets co-CEO Ryan Salame, will stand trial on Nov. 9 in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on four charges related to campaign finance law violations, Judge George Daniels ordered on Wednesday. The trial date was set after Judge Daniels denied Bond's motion to dismiss the indictment, in which she claimed prosecutors had promised her she would not be charged if Salame pleaded guilty.

Bond and Salame were charged in an August 2024 indictment alleging they "illegally funded" Bond's 2022 campaign for the US House of Representatives. Prosecutors said Salame used $400,000 of FTX funds as part of a "sham" payment in violation of campaign finance laws. Bond ran as a Republican in New York's 1st congressional district and lost in the primary to Nicholas LaLota.

Salame was sentenced to 90 months in prison in 2024 after pleading guilty to conspiracy to make unlawful political contributions. He initially sought to vacate his plea, arguing prosecutors misled him about charging Bond, before reporting to prison in October 2024 and leaving the matter to his wife's case. He is serving a 7.5-year sentence. Caroline Ellison, former CEO of Alameda Research, was released in January after serving less than her two-year sentence. Nishad Singh and Gary Wang were given time served after testifying against Sam "SBF" Bankman-Fried.

Bankman-Fried, the former FTX CEO, was found guilty on seven felony charges and sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2024. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals rejected his appeal earlier this month, leaving a US Supreme Court ruling or a presidential pardon from Donald Trump as remaining paths out of prison. US lawmakers have publicly warned against a pardon.

Bond's case is one of the final criminal proceedings tied to FTX, which filed for bankruptcy in 2022.