What’s next for Binance’s Changpeng “CZ” Zhao

cointelegraph.com:

A recent court filing suggests that Changpeng "CZ" Zhao's legal challenges are just beginning, despite pleading guilty to violating the United States Anti-Money Laundering requirements in a settlement with the Department of Justice. 

Zhao is expected to be sentenced in February 2024. He is currently challenging the government's efforts to prevent his return to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) while awaiting sentencing with his family. In a filing from Nov. 24, however, authorities indicated that he may face a harsher punishment than initially anticipated:

A potential lengthier sentence opposes legal experts' consensus. According to an analysis from former Securities and Exchange Commission official John Reed Stark, Zhao would possibly receive a 12–18-month sentence at a minimum-security prison under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. Although his legal team is likely to ask for no jail time or an alternative sentence, combining prison time with home detention and probation.

Zhao's relevance to the crypto industry may also influence his fate. Stark believes that if the "DOJ does not secure a sentence for CZ that deters future money laundering conduct in the cryptoverse (and elsewhere), then this "plea deal" could end up backfiring on DOJ."

For the DOJ, seeking longer jail time for Zhao may not be as easy as it seems. According to Stark's analysis, the government officials would have to produce more substantial evidence implicating him in criminal activity. "Hopefully, DOJ has got something up their sleeve, or perhaps the Binance monitoring and other remedial requirements will reveal more egregious and chargeable crimes," he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

Zhao was released under a $175 million bond that requires him to return to