PANews reported on May 6 that according to Cointelegraph, former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky strongly opposed the U.S. Department of Justice's request for a 20-year sentence, saying that this move was equivalent to "a sentence of death in prison." Mashinsky pleaded guilty in December 2024, admitting to manipulating the price of CEL tokens and cashing out $48 million before Celsius went bankrupt. His lawyer said that Mashinsky was a first-time non-violent offender and had an unblemished business record for 30 years, and argued that the sentence should not exceed 366 days. The prosecutor believed that his behavior was intentional fraud, and hundreds of users suffered financial losses as a result. The verdict will be made on May 8.