It became known why the convicted founder of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange is still not behind bars

According to Protos, the founder of the cryptocurrency exchange Binance, Changpeng Zhao, has not been imprisoned. He is waiting for a notification from the Probation Service or the preliminary investigation. The prison bureau needs to know whether a particular cell is suitable for housing the accused. Currently, the statutory compliance checks are underway.

Thanks to formalities in the criminal justice system, the former Binance CEO’s legal team has ensured that he is still not in prison. Earlier, the Asian entrepreneur was sentenced to 4 months in prison. Although this verdict could have come into effect on the day of the sentencing, there were three possibilities to postpone it.

One is that the judge could allow the Probation or Pretrial Detention Department to notify the defendant of the date of his or her entry into prison. Because Zhao was not sentenced to a multi-year prison term, the U.S. Marshals did not immediately take him into custody. Instead, the judge offered Zhao the most «lenient path».

Criminals are sent to prison immediately on the day of sentencing if it is a simple case. This happens when it is obvious that the offender will serve his sentence behind bars. However, prior to Zhao’s trial, no one knew whether the U.S. District Judge would impose a prison sentence. Because of this uncertainty, there was no reason for the Bureau of Prisons to fulfill its statutory obligation to double-check the suitability of a particular cell at Sitake Prison for CZ.

Zhao’s team of lawyers includes 7 professionals, with many assistants and paralegals from world-class law firms: Latham & Watkins, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and Davis Wright Tremaine.

As a reminder, on April 30, a US court delivered a verdict in the case of former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, who was sentenced to 4 months in prison.