SBF withdraws motion for new trial, maintains request for new judge

Former FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), who is serving a 25-year prison sentence for misappropriating customer funds, has withdrawn his motion for a criminal retrial, Cointelegraph reported. In a court filing submitted on Wednesday to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, SBF stated that he was withdrawing his Rule 33 motion because he believes he cannot receive a fair hearing before Judge Lewis Kaplan. He reserved the right to refile for a new trial after his direct appeal and a decision on reassigning the case are concluded. SBF had previously requested a different judge in February, alleging that Judge Kaplan showed "extreme bias." His appeal against the conviction and sentence is currently underway in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.