Binance founder and former CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao apologized for his “poor decisions” and took “full responsibility” for his actions in a letter submitted to the judge presiding over the case on Tuesday.

Zhao is scheduled to be sentenced on April 30 after Binance and the US Department of Justice (DOJ) settle the charges in November 2023. Although Zhao at the time waived his right to appeal any sentence of up to 18 months, the DOJ is now seeking a 36-month sentence.

In the letter addressed to U.S. Judge Richard A. Jones of the Western District of Washington, Zhao said, “I have no excuse for failing to maintain required compliance checks at Binance,” and assured that this would be his “only encounter with the justice system.”

Zhao said he wants to support biotechnology startups and youth in the future. Alongside Zhao’s letter, 161 letters of support from family members, friends and others seeking lighter sentences were submitted.

Zhao’s sister, Jessica Zhao, who previously served as Managing Director at Morgan Stanley, said that although her brother made mistakes, he lived for the sake of others. Citing the FTX collapse as an example, he stated that Zhao is confident that Binance has never misappropriated customer funds.

“If the cryptocurrency industry is compared to the Wild West, CZ would be the guardian of this wilderness,” wrote He Yi, mother of CZ’s three children and Binance’s other co-founder.

“Even the United States has not decided how to regulate and define this industry,” Yi wrote. “As a founder who had never run a company of this size before, he was sure to encounter blind spots.”

Zhao’s wife, Yang Weiqing, with whom he raised their two children, cited the example of Binance donating tens of millions of yen to disaster-affected regions of Japan in 2018, even though it withdrew from the Japanese market months ago.

Zhao’s children, Rachel and Ryan, who are students at US universities, offered anecdotes of a supportive father and asked the Judge not to define Zhao’s character based on this incident alone.

One notable letter of support came from Binance’s Head of Financial Crime Compliance and former US Treasury Department special agent Tigran Gambaryan, who is currently languishing in a Nigerian prison, having been arrested in a dispute between Binance and Nigeria. The letter was written on January 1, 2024, before his arrest.

“While I acknowledge CZ’s past missteps, I can confirm that his integrity, business savvy, and philanthropic activities have not only influenced Binance’s corporate philosophy, but have had a knock-on effect that has positively impacted lives globally,” Gambaryan wrote.

Letters of support also came from former U.S. Ambassador to China Max S. Baucus, McGill University Professor Jeremy R. Cooperstock, Columbia University Professor Ronghui Gu, Morgan Stanley Managing Director Sean Yang and members of the ruling family in the United Arab Emirates.