The criminal sentencing of Binance founder and venerable CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) has been postponed to April 30, according to a conception filed on Monday in Seattle federal court.

The tips used to be first reported by CNBC, noting that the docket entry didn’t present why the prosecutors had delayed the listening to by two months. Zhao’s lawyer William Burck declined to comment on the prolong, and the U.S. Division of Justice (DOJ) is moreover yet to comment publicly on the explanation.

The distinctive sentencing listening to used to be scheduled for Feb. 23, with the Resolve presiding over the case Richard Jones rejecting two bids for him high-tail abet to his home in the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E), deeming him a flight distress on story of his “big wealth” and scarcity of ties to the U.S.

Zhao, who is currently out on a $175 million bail bond in Seattle, has already paid $50 million in fines and supplied up his complete equity stake in Binance.US as security to make certain he travels abet from the U.A.E. As of the final fundraising round, Zhao’s stake used to be valued at $4.5 billion, his lawyers said.

The Binance founder pleaded guilty to prices of cash laundering and violating the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) on Nov. 21, stepping down from his position as CEO of Binance. The trade moreover paid $4.3 billion in penalties to unravel the DOJ’s criminal investigation into the agency, alleging it operated as an unlicensed cash transmitting trade (MTB) and violated sanctions law.

Zhao is anticipated to face a sentence of as a lot as 18 months in jail, but some imagine that this may perchance occasionally perchance well also be a a lot longer sentence, particularly given the language venerable by prosecutors in a November submitting.

“Truly that the highest-quit of the Pointers fluctuate shall be as excessive as 18 months, and the United States is free to argue for any sentence as a lot as the statutory maximum of ten years,” they said.