According to the prosecutors, the US District Judge Lorna Schofield should make an example of Farkas.
The prosecutors noted that federal guidelines recommend 70 to 87 months in prison.
The prosecutors filed a motion for conviction after Farkas proposed home imprisonment.
The U.S. Attorneys are asking U.S. District Judge Lorna Schofield to sentence a con artist behind a celebrity appointed ICO to a long prison term. A report unveiled this news on November 4 and found that on October 31 the prosecutors had filed a criminal complaint and demanded a harsh sentence against Robert Joseph Farkas, the co-founder of Centra Tech. The company reportedly conducted a fraudulent ICO in 2017 with the assistance of Floyd Mayweather and DJ Khaled.
In the grounds for the verdict, prosecutors stated that they wanted Farkas to be severely punished in order to prevent other fraudsters from carrying out illegal ICOs. According to the prosecutors, legitimate ICOs create a new and effective method of raising capital. However, fraudulent ICOs lead to a loss of investor confidence and make it difficult for honest coin issuers to raise capital through crypto coins.
Prosecutors further suggested that Judge Schofield should issue a substantial ruling against Farkas to send a strong message to other fraudsters who are trying to use digital assets and new technologies to commit old-fashioned fraud.
House arrest is not a sufficient punishment
The prosecutors filed their petition after Farkas submitted his on October 23. In his submission, Farkas claimed that he had played an undeniably subordinate role in the plan. As such, he sought a conviction for the 55 days he had already served, plus house arrest and a substantial amount of community service.
The prosecution, however, was of a different opinion,
“Farkas’ undeniable criminal behavior speaks for itself. For about nine months, Farkas participated day after day in a plan that directly caused losses of tens of millions of dollars in funds from hundreds of investors who were victims. His involvement continued even after the growing criticism he faced following the article in the New York Times that exposed many of the lies he and his co-conspirators used to lure investors. The methods that Farkas used to lure the victims and then tried to cover up the plan by trying to create a company and a product that would do justice to the lies he had perpetrated testify to the seriousness of his behavior and his role in the plan, which, although minor in comparison to Sharma and Trapani, was nevertheless significant and lasting”.
The prosecution went on to say that federal guidelines recommend a prison sentence of between 70 and 87 months for the commission of such an offense. On the other hand, the probation office suggested 60 months.
A £19.2 million settlement
This news comes after Farkas pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud on June 16 this year. He reportedly accepted that he had conspired to commit securities and wire transfer fraud by running a system in which U.S. investors were defrauded of more than £19.2 million. Farkas’ co-conspirators Sam Sharma and Raymond Trapani also pleaded guilty to similar charges.
