SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Nima Momeni, the tech consultant convicted in the stabbing death of Cash App founder Bob Lee, was sentenced to 16 years to life in prison by a San Francisco Superior Court judge on Tuesday. This sentence comes after a jury found Momeni guilty of second-degree murder in December 2024, rejecting his defense claim of self-defense. Momeni has been in custody since his arrest nine days following the April 4, 2023, killing.

During the sentencing phase, Judge Alexandra Gordon denied Momeni’s request for a new trial. His legal team has announced plans to appeal the conviction. Lee’s family members addressed the court, including his 18-year-old daughter, Scout Lee, who spoke directly to Momeni. She expressed profound grief, stating, “You did not just end his life; you ended an entire future built around a man.”

Momeni, dressed in an orange jail jumpsuit, maintained that he acted in self-defense during the altercation but also acknowledged the loss felt by Lee’s family. He said, “Unfortunately, we have completely different understandings of what transpired.”

Bob Lee, a notable figure in the tech industry at 43, was discovered on a deserted street in downtown San Francisco, bleeding and calling for help. He was later pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. Prosecutors detailed a premeditated attack where Momeni allegedly drove Lee to a secluded area under the Bay Bridge and stabbed him three times, including a fatal wound to the heart. It was suggested that Momeni was agitated because Lee had introduced his younger sister to a drug dealer who subsequently assaulted her.

On the stand, Momeni countered the prosecution's narrative by claiming that Lee was the aggressor, attacking him with a knife after Momeni suggested Lee should focus on family rather than seeking a strip club that evening. Momeni, who has a background in martial arts, testified that he did not realize he had inflicted fatal injuries on Lee.

At the time of his death, Lee was not only the creator of the mobile payment service Cash App but also the chief product officer of the cryptocurrency company MobileCoin. Recently, he had relocated to Miami from the San Francisco Bay Area, where his ex-wife Krista Lee resides with their two children, before returning to California for a visit.

The jury ultimately rejected first-degree murder charges, which would have required the prosecution to demonstrate that Momeni acted with deliberation, willfulness, and premeditation. In contrast, second-degree murder charges necessitate a lesser standard of proof, not requiring evidence of premeditation.