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NEW YORK (Reuters) -Sam Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to a new indictment accusing him of fraud and conspiracy, as his lawyer complained about how the founder of the now-bankrupt FTX cryptocurrency exchange is being treated in jail.
Bankman-Fried, 31, entered his plea to the seven criminal charges in Manhattan federal court, his first appearance there since a U.S. judge jailed him earlier this month.
He wore a beige-colored prison uniform with the sleeves slightly rolled up. His mother, Stanford Law School professor Barbara Fried, looked on from the courtroom audience.
“Not guilty,” Bankman-Fried told U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn, who took his plea.
The former billionaire is being housed at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, which has gained infamy for conditions that public defenders have called “inhumane.”
Mark Cohen, a lawyer for Bankman-Fried, said his client has been denied access to the medication Adderall, which he uses to treat his attention deficit hyperactive disorder.
Cohen also said jail officials have refused to provide the vegan diet that Bankman-Fried client requested.
“Because he’s following his principles, he is literally now subsisting on bread and water,” Cohen said.
Bankman-Fried has been behind bars since Aug. 11, when U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan revoked his bail for allegedly tampering with witnesses at least twice.
His lawyers have asked Kaplan to let him out five days a week to review evidence at the Manhattan courthouse, saying he would otherwise be unable to prepare adequately for his scheduled Oct. 2 trial. Kaplan is allowing Bankman-Fried to meet with his lawyers in the courthouse with an internet-enabled laptop for around 6-1/2 hours on Tuesday.
Bankman-Fried was jailed after sharing the personal writings of his former romantic partner and colleague, Caroline Ellison, with a New York Times reporter.
Ellison, who had been chief executive of Bankman-Fried’s hedge fund Alameda Research, is one of three former members of his inner circle who have pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against him at trial.
Prosecutors have said Bankman-Fried stole billions of dollars in FTX customer funds to plug losses at Alameda, purchase lavish real estate, and donate more than $100 million to U.S. political campaigns in a bid to promote crypto-friendly legislation.
Bankman-Fried has acknowledged risk management failures at FTX but denied stealing funds.
His lawyers said he may assert an advice-of-counsel defense at trial, prosecutors said in court papers on Friday. The defendant has previously said advice from Silicon Valley law firm Fenwick & West on conduct such as FTX’s use of disappearing messages led him to believe his activity was legal.
Fenwick & West declined to comment.
Reporting by Luc Cohen and Jody Godoy in New YorkEditing by Matthew Lewis and Will Dunham
