The former CEO of Alameda Research served as a key prosecution witness against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried.

Caroline Ellison, the former business partner and girlfriend of cryptocurrency fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried, has been sentenced to two years in prison for her role in one of the largest financial frauds in history.

Ellison, the CEO of Alameda Research and Bankman-Fried’s sometime girlfriend, was a key prosecution witness in last year’s trial, in which the founder of the ill-fated crypto exchange FTX was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Ellison pleaded guilty to seven charges, including fraud, shortly after FTX’s collapse in 2022. These offenses carry a maximum sentence of 110 years in prison.

But both the judge and prosecutors said Ellison deserved leniency because of his cooperation with investigators, including his testimony against Bankman-Fried during the three-day trial.

U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan said Tuesday that Ellison’s cooperation had been “very substantial,” but given the scale of the fraud, a prison sentence was justified, even though her lawyers had asked for probation.

“I am confident you will never do such a thing again,” Kaplan said.

“But here’s the point: This was, if not the greatest financial fraud ever committed in this country or anywhere else, then at least almost.”

Kaplan said he would recommend placing Ellison in a minimum security prison.

During Bankman-Fried’s trial, Ellison testified that he directed her and others to use FTX customers’ funds to make riskier transactions, buy real estate and make political donations through sister company Alameda Research.

Bankman-Fried testified in his own defense at his trial, accusing Ellison of being a poor manager and portraying himself as a well-meaning entrepreneur and altruist who was overwhelmed.

Bankman-Fried appealed his conviction on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy earlier this month, accusing the judge of preventing his legal team from presenting evidence that would have helped his defense.