The former FTX executive, Ryan Salame, has decided to withdraw his petition to dismiss the indictment against Michelle Bond. The letter informing Judge Lewis A. Kaplan of the Southern District of New York of this decision was dated August 29. The withdrawal of the petition was done “without prejudice” to allow Bond to address the matter in her own legal proceedings.
Ryan Salame was sentenced to 90 months in prison back in May 2024 after pleading guilty to conspiracy charges. These charges included operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business and making unlawful political contributions. Michelle Bond, a former congressional candidate, is accused of conspiring with Salame, who is her boyfriend, to finance her 2022 campaign unlawfully.
Salame’s petition, filed initially on August 21, sought a writ of error coram nobis or, alternatively, a writ of audita querela. He argued that his guilty plea was made under the false belief that prosecutors would not take further action against Bond. However, the government’s response to this petition was clear. Prosecutors labeled Salame’s claims as “demonstrably false” and emphasized that the investigation into Bond’s activities was ongoing and separate from the charges he faced.
The indictment against Bond was unsealed on August 22, 2024, accusing her of conspiring with Salame to make unlawful contributions to her 2022 congressional campaign. With Bond’s case moving forward under Judge George B. Daniels, Salame chose to withdraw his petition to allow Bond to raise the issues independently in her case. This withdrawal marks a tactical shift, with Salame’s legal team clarifying that it does not indicate a change in their stance on the facts of the case.
By withdrawing the petition, Salame effectively clears the way for Bond’s case to proceed without the potential complications that his petition could have introduced. The letter from Salame’s lawyers criticized the government’s view of the petition’s motives, stating that it was not driven by dissatisfaction with Salame’s sentence but by the impending indictment against Bond. This decision highlights a strategic move to allow Bond’s case to move forward independently.
