Do Kwon Judge Demands Answers Before Sentencing Over ‘Assurance’ He’ll Serve Time
TL;DR
A U.S. judge has asked six questions about Do Kwon's sentencing, including extradition to South Korea and victim compensation, before his Dec. 11 hearing where he faces up to 12 years for defrauding investors in Terraform Labs' $50B collapse.
Key Takeaways
- •Judge Paul A. Engelmayer seeks clarity on Do Kwon's potential extradition to South Korea and assurance he'll serve his full U.S. sentence if transferred.
- •The judge wants to know if victims wish to speak at sentencing and how compensation would work, with prosecutors seeking 12 years vs. defense requesting 5 years.
- •Questions include whether Kwon gets credit for 17 months in Montenegrin custody and his remaining criminal exposure in South Korea ahead of the Dec. 11 sentencing.
What to know:
- A U.S. district judge has posed six questions regarding the sentencing of Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon, who is accused of defrauding investors.
- Judge Paul A. Engelmayer is seeking clarity on issues such as Kwon's potential extradition to South Korea and victim compensation before the sentencing hearing on Thursday.
- Terraform's collapse, which once had a market value exceeding $50 billion, was a significant event in the 2022 crypto market downturn.
- A U.S. district judge has posed six questions regarding the sentencing of Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon, who is accused of defrauding investors.
- Judge Paul A. Engelmayer is seeking clarity on issues such as Kwon's potential extradition to South Korea and victim compensation before the sentencing hearing on Thursday.
- Terraform's collapse, which once had a market value exceeding $50 billion, was a significant event in the 2022 crypto market downturn.
The U.S. district judge sentencing Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon for defrauding investors requested answers to a number of questions before the hearing takes place on Thursday, court documents revealed.
Paul A. Engelmayer, judge for the Southern District of New York, posed six questions, including whether Kwon’s victims will have their day in court and whether he will be able to avoid serving time if sent to South Korea, where he faces pending charges. The judge asked both sides to respond to his questions by Dec. 10.
The collapse of Terraform, which reached over $50 billion in market value at its peak, was a pivotal moment for the crypto market downturn in 2022.
“Assuming a transfer of Mr. Kwon to foreign custody to serve the back half of his sentence, what assurance would the United States have that he would not be released before the completion of the prison term imposed by this Court?,” the judge asked. He also asked if Kwon’s victims “have expressed interest in being heard at sentencing?”
U.S. federal prosecutors are seeking a 12-year prison sentence for Kwon; his defense team requested a five-year term.
Engelmayer also requested clarity on whether Kwon should get credit for roughly 17 months spent in Montenegrin custody, what specific criminal exposure he still faces in South Korea, how any victim-compensation process would work, and whether he qualifies for federal sentence-reduction credits or should face supervised release at all.
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