Celsius founder Mashinsky slams 20-year prison sentence proposal

Odaily News Celsius founder Alex Mashinsky expressed strong dissatisfaction with the 20-year prison sentence proposed by the U.S. Department of Justice. Previously, Mashinsky pleaded guilty to commodity fraud and manipulation of CEL token prices in December 2024, and made a profit of $48 million by selling tokens before Celsius collapsed. His legal team submitted a reply memorandum to the New York District Court on May 5, requesting that the sentence be reduced to less than 366 days on the grounds that Mashinsky was a first-time non-violent offender with a 30-year unblemished business record. Celsius filed for bankruptcy protection in July 2022, with debts of $4.7 billion at the time, and the case affected the assets of hundreds of thousands of users. (Cointelegraph)