Do Kwon sentenced to 15 years in U.S. court..."Caused extremely serious financial harm"

Do Kwon, co-founder of Terraform Labs, was sentenced to 15 years in prison by a U.S. court on charges related to the 2022 Terra and Luna collapse.

According to CoinDesk on the 11th (local time), U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer of the Southern District of New York sentenced Do Kwon to 15 years in prison. This far exceeds the 12 years sought by prosecutors and the 5 years argued by the defense. Do Kwon must serve half of the sentence before a request for transfer to South Korea is possible.

Prior to this sentencing, investors harmed by the Terra and Luna collapse appeared by telephone in court and testified about their losses. Judge Engelmayer is reported to have described this as "extremely serious financial harm."

Earlier, in August, Do Kwon pleaded guilty to two charges: conspiracy to commit commodities and securities fraud, and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud. The case, which originally involved nine charges and could have resulted in up to 135 years, was adjusted to a maximum of 25 years after prosecutors narrowed the indictment based on Do Kwon's guilty plea. Prosecutors recommended a 12-year sentence and agreed to support a request for international transfer to South Korea if Do Kwon serves half of the sentence.

However, questions about Do Kwon's potential transfer to South Korea raised concerns from the court. Judge Engelmayer asked, "How can the U.S. control the possibility that Do Kwon would be released early in South Korea?" and requested additional information from authorities of both countries. Prosecutors replied that they "have not obtained concrete information" about the level of prosecution and punishment in South Korea, and South Korean prosecutors only stated, "We cannot disclose the level of punishment, but it appears that Do Kwon is contesting the charges in South Korea."

It also emerged as an issue how much of the 17 months Do Kwon was detained in Montenegro would be credited toward his U.S. sentence. Prosecutors said, "Except for the four months served for the passport fraud charge, the remaining period may be counted toward the sentence in the U.S.," but the specific extent of any reduction has not yet been decided.