Celsius Ex-CEO Faces Potential 115-Year Sentence

According to BlockBeats, former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky is facing a potential prison sentence of up to 115 years. Last Friday, Mashinsky's legal team submitted a memorandum to the New York District Court, requesting permission for six former Celsius employees, including the company's former Chief Financial Officer and Chief Revenue Officer, to testify in his criminal trial. In July 2023, Mashinsky was arrested on charges of defrauding customers and misleading them about Celsius's profitability. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused Celsius and Mashinsky of raising billions of dollars through fraudulent and unregistered cryptocurrency sales and manipulating the price of the company's native token, CEL. Mashinsky's lawyers argued in the memorandum that, as CEO of Celsius, Mashinsky relied on information provided by his experienced professional team and had no intention of harming anyone. They emphasized, 'The government has informed the defense that its current position, according to sentencing guidelines, is that Mr. Mashinsky should be sentenced to 115 years in prison.'