In a major development, federal prosecutors have told a New York judge they are not seeking significant jail time for Roni Cohen-Pavon, the former chief revenue officer of bankrupt crypto lender Celsius. They sought the relief stating Pavon’s willingness to cooperate against his former boss as a key factor in bringing the case to a close.
US Attorney Jay Clayton submitted a letter on Monday to the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, stopping short of asking for a specific prison term. Instead, prosecutors asked the court to weigh the sentencing guidelines and apply an appropriate reduction reflecting Cohen-Pavon’s assistance to the government.
Clayton’s letter pointed directly to the ripple effect of that cooperation. “As soon as he pled guilty, Cohen-Pavon’s cooperation was public and known to Mashinsky,” he wrote. Alex Mashinsky is the former CEO of Celsius Network. “Cohen-Pavon’s cooperation was likely a significant factor in Mashinsky’s decision to plead guilty a few months prior to his January 2025 trial date.”
Cohen-Pavon entered his guilty plea in September 2023, admitting to fraud and conspiracy to commit price manipulation involving Celsius’s native CEL token. His defense team has since asked Judge John Koeltl for time served, saying their client took “full responsibility for his conduct and the harms caused by his participation in the CEL token manipulation scheme.”
Mashinsky received a 12-year prison sentence in May 2025 following his guilty plea on commodities and securities fraud charges. In July 2022, Celsius filed for bankruptcy, freezing all customer withdrawals and trapping billions of dollars in user funds. This triggered a ripple effect across the crypto sector, leading to the closure of several other prominent exchanges including FTX.
