A federal judge on Thursday sentenced Sam Bankman-Fried to 25 years in prison for his leading role in one of the biggest financial scandals in American history, capping the stunning fall of the former cryptocurrency magnate and one-time Washington megadonor.

Judge Lewis Kaplan of the Southern District of New York handed down the sentence almost five months after a jury found Bankman-Fried, 32, guilty of orchestrating a massive fraud centered on his crypto empire. Bankman-Fried faced a maximum 110 years in prison.

Just two years ago, Bankman-Fried was the biggest name in crypto and an up-and-comer in campaign-finance circles, raising millions from Silicon Valley investors and speaking of one day owning Goldman Sachs. In Washington, he pushed to sway crypto regulatory debates and donated lavishly to political campaigns in both the 2020 and 2022 elections.

Now his prison term is a reminder of the stakes in prosecutors’ ongoing crackdown on the crypto market.