Jack Sharman Quoted By Major News Outlets on SBF Sentence, Texas Attorney General Fraud Case

April 8, 2024

Lightfoot, Franklin & White LLC partner Jack Sharman was an in-demand source recently as reporters from prominent media outlets covered two high-profile cases that captured national attention. 

Both The Washington Post and Blockworks sought out Sharman for their coverage of the 25-year sentence handed down to crypto exchange founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. In his comments for The Washington Post, Sharman pointed out that Bankman-Fried’s lack of a straightforward confession or apology might have pushed the judge toward a stiffer sentence. 

Law360 also interviewed Sharman for its coverage (subscription required) of the pretrial intervention deal that ended Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s nearly decade-long securities fraud case. 

Sharman explained that pretrial interventions are typically offered to nonviolent, first-time offenders or in cases of “victimless” crimes. He added that prosecutors were likely motivated to resolve the case quickly given Paxton’s recent impeachment acquittal and ongoing federal investigation.

"It may have just persuaded them to not spend resources, not risk going to trial and losing," Sharman told Law360. 

Sharman has practiced law for more than 30 years and leads Lightfoot’s White-Collar Criminal Defense and Corporate Investigations practice. He was special counsel to the House Banking Committee during its Whitewater investigation of President Bill Clinton in the 1990s. In 2016, he was appointed as special counsel to the Alabama House Judiciary Committee for the impeachment investigation of former Alabama Governor Robert Bentley. Currently, he serves as special counsel to the Office of the Georgia Secretary of State relating to inquiries into the 2020 presidential election.