Alex Mashinsky, the former CEO and founder of Celsius Network, has filed a motion to vacate his 12-year prison sentence. He’s doing it without a lawyer, citing ineffective counsel and claiming that Sam Bankman-Fried played a role in sabotaging his company.
The pro se filing, submitted to the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, arrives just weeks after Judge John G. Koeltl sentenced Mashinsky on May 8, 2025. It’s a bold move from a man who pleaded guilty to commodities and securities fraud on December 3, 2024, and whose legal team has since walked away.
The legal argument, translated
Mashinsky’s motion rests on two main pillars. The first is a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, essentially arguing that his attorney failed to communicate adequately with him during the proceedings.
The second pillar invokes the “fruit of the poisonous tree” doctrine. Mashinsky is arguing that certain evidence used against him was obtained improperly, and therefore everything derived from that evidence should be thrown out.
