How Changpeng Zhao’s ‘Good Guy’ Reputation Secured a 4-Month Prison Sentence

Ex-Binance
CEO
Changpeng
Zhao
may
be
off
to
federal
prison
for
financial
crimes
that
led
the
cryptocurrency
exchange
he
founded
to
agree
to
pay

a
$4.3
billion
fine.
But
his
reputation,
at
least
in
a
Seattle
courtroom
on
Tuesday,
was
never
better.

The
judge,
CZ’s
defense
lawyers
and
even
prosecutors
acknowledged
during
the
2
1/2
hour
sentencing
hearing
that
this
47-year-old
billionaire
was
not
your
run-of-the-mill
criminal
defendant.
Instead,
he
was
a
philanthropist,
a
do-gooder,
a
first-time
lawbreaker
and
family
man
who
turned
himself
in
to
accept
whatever
may
come.

This
unexpected
resuscitation
of
the
crypto
kingpin’s
reputation
factored
into
his
fate:
a
tremendously
light
sentence
of
four
months,
far
less
than
the
three
years
prosecutors
sought
to
punish
–
in
their
telling
–
this
historically
egregious
violation
of
the
Bank
Secrecy
Act
(BSA).

U.S.
Judge
Richard
Jones,
74,
had
none
of
it.
“To
be
honest
with
you,
sir,
everything
I
see
about
your
history
and
characteristics
are
of
a
mitigating
nature,”
he
said
to
Zhao
near
the
start
of
his
sentencing.
He
recalled
going
through
a
book
of
glowing
sentencing
letters
that
CZ’s
friends
and
family
had
submitted.

Read
more:



Binance
Founder
Changpeng
Zhao
Gets
4
Months
in
Prison

Not
everything
worked
out
for
CZ
in
court.
He’s
still
due
to
spend
four
months
in
prison
for
failing
to
implement
effective
money-laundering
controls
as
CEO
of
Binance,
the
world’s
largest
crypto
exchange.
A
source
at
the
U.S.
Department
of
Justice
said
he’s
the
first
CEO
to
go
to
prison
under
the
BSA.

If
the
court
proceedings
were
the
model
of
the
man,
though,
CZ
will
enter
prison
rejuvenated.

“Lots
of
really
good
people
do
bad
things
and
violate
the
law,”
prosecutor
Kevin
Mosley
told
Judge
Jones
when
asked
if
his
team’s
sentencing
recommendation
factored
in
CZ’s
prolific
global
philanthropy
efforts.
CZ’s
lawyers
later
called
out
Mosley’s
unconvincing
insistence
that
it
had.

Judge
Jones
said
he
spent
the
weekend
poring
over
the
voluminous
letters
of
support
for
CZ
from
friends
and
family
until
the
book
they
were
contained
in
literally
fell
apart.
“I
don’t
think
I’ve
ever
seen
a
volume
of
letters”
consistent
in
their
characterization
of
a
passionate
if
flawed
defendant,
the
judge
said.

Read
more:



Binance
Founder
Changpeng
Zhao
Apologizes
Ahead
of
Sentencing,
161
Others
Send
Letters
of
Support

CZ
leaned
forward
in
his
seat
throughout
Judge
Jones’
sentencing
remarks.
He
nodded
every
time
the
judge
pointed
out
the
former
CEO’s
instances
of
wrongdoing.
His
body
language
telegraphed
he
anticipated
the
light
sentence
he
got;
it
was
almost
like
CZ
knew
what
was
coming
when
he

flashed
those
four
fingers
months
ago.

“You
risked
your
entire
net
worth
to
make
Binance
a
success,”
Judge
Jones
said
at
one
point.

Naturally,
the
most
sterling
representations
came
from
CZ’s
own
legal
team.
They
reminded
the
judge
repeatedly
that
Zhao
had
been
living
in
the
United
Arab
Emirates,
a
country
with
no
extradition
treaty
with
the
U.S.
His
massive
fortune
could
have
funded
a
lifestyle
on
the
run,
they
said.
But
he

cracked
a
deal
with
prosecutors
instead.

That,
the

support
letters,
his
“extraordinary”
cooperation
with
the
government
and
a
whistle-clean
past
(“No
criminal
history,
no
fraud,
no
other
crimes,”
as
defense
lawyer
William
Burke
put
it)
led
Judge
Jones
to
impose
a
light
sentence,
he
said.

Still,
CZ’s
hubris
worked
against
him.
“The
mere
fact
that
you
can
place
your
name
next
to
the
largest
crypto
operation
on
the
planet
does
not
give
you
discretion
to
pick
and
choose
which
regulations
to
follow,”
Jones
said,
adding
that
wealth
and
power
did
not
free
CZ
from
following
the
law.

The
whole
thing
makes
CZ’s
coming
prison
sentence
likely
to
be
more
of
a
blip
in
his
story
than
the
end
of
his
line.
As
the
billionaire
himself
pointed
out,
he’s
spent
the
past
few
months
working
on
a
global
online
education
initiative
for
children.
He
seems
likely
to
return
to
that
work
on
the
other
side.
That
could
come
perhaps
even
within
the
year.