Ex-Citigroup Boss Sentenced to 30 Years After Autism Defence Is Rejected

A Harvard-educated former Citigroup boss who tried to blame autism for a years-long pattern of sexual abuse has been sentenced to 30 years in prison in New York.

Edward Gene Smith, 50, was jailed on Tuesday in Manhattan federal court after pleading guilty to multiple sex crimes, receipt of child pornography and obstruction of justice.

The former managing director, described in court as a senior executive at major financial institutions, admitted targeting women over nearly a decade while cultivating a polished corporate image.

Prosecutors had urged the judge to impose the full 30 years, rejecting what they called Smith's 'purported autism' defence as 'inflammatory nonsense.'

Judge Paul A Engelmayer also ordered a lifetime of supervised release for the disgraced Citigroup figure.

Autism Defence Rejected in Citigroup Boss Case

Smith's legal team had argued in pre-sentencing submissions that his autism spectrum disorder was the 'primary driver' of his offending.

His lawyers claimed he believed women he targeted were 'girlfriends', and that he had been 'devastated to learn' they experienced these encounters as non-consensual sexual abuse and rape.

Prosecutors, in their own filing, dismissed the autism-based plea as 'inflammatory nonsense' and 'an offensive smear to those in the autistic community.'

They argued that Smith's diagnosis, as he framed it, was 'utterly irreconcilable with what the defendant did, and how he did it', pointing to detailed planning, deception and concealment.

How the Ex-Citigroup Executive Operated

According to court documents, Smith 'committed these heinous crimes hiding behind a facade of a well-educated bank executive, using his outward appearance to draw in victims and evade detection.'

Between 2015 and 2024, he planned to drug, attempted to drug and did drug numerous women to render them unable to consent to sexual activity. In several cases, he then engaged in sexual acts with the women and secretly recorded or photographed them while they were incapacitated.

One victim, referred to as Victim‑1, was assaulted on or about 23 April 2023 at Smith's Central Park South residence, according to the US Attorney's Office. Prosecutors say he laced alcoholic drinks with Klonopin, a controlled substance, then physically restrained and raped her while she was unconscious.

While Victim‑1 remained unconscious, Smith recorded video of the assault and shared the footage with others via an encrypted messaging channel dedicated to images of unconscious or incapacitated women in sexually exploitative positions.

Another woman, Victim‑2, first met Smith in 2019 while she was a college student. Prosecutors said he persuaded her to move to New York City, then took control of her finances, social life and day-to-day activities.

Over several months between 2019 and 2020, he repeatedly drugged and sexually assaulted her, using coercion, physical force and restraint, and allegedly referencing firearms he possessed to maintain control.

A third woman, Victim‑3, was 17 when Smith began communicating with her in the autumn of 2021, according to court filings. While she was still under 18, he solicited explicit photographs.

Shortly after her eighteenth birthday, he caused her to travel to New York, attempted to drug her and then physically and sexually assaulted her. The abuse continued during a later trip in October 2023, when prosecutors say he again drugged and sexually assaulted her and even posted her photographs and contact details on a prostitution website without her knowledge.

Alongside the direct assaults, Smith received and possessed a large volume of images and videos depicting children, including prepubescent children, being sexually abused.

Officials described the collection as a 'trove of thousands of files' and 'horrifying' material involving toddlers and infants.

Obstruction, Child Abuse Material and a 'Facade' of Success

Smith's legal troubles intensified after investigators searched his home and uncovered child pornography on his electronic devices.

In or about August 2024, according to the US Attorney's Office, he paid Victim‑1 thousands of dollars to sign a false document in an attempt to obstruct the investigation. Around the same time, he allegedly solicited other individuals to sign false statements as well.

United States Attorney Jay Clayton did not mince words in a public statement, describing Smith as 'a sexual predator and a serial rapist.'

Clayton said the former Citigroup managing director had 'spent years hiding behind wealth, education, and status' while he 'drugged and raped women, documenting his crimes with extensive notes planning how he would torture and punish his victims, and surreptitiously photographing them, while they were nude and unconscious.'

He added that 'every New York family is safer with the defendant off the streets.'

The corporate response was more cautious but still blunt. Citigroup confirmed that Smith was terminated 'immediately upon learning about law enforcement's initial investigation, well before the allegations of this depraved behaviour came to light.'

The bank said it had cooperated with investigators 'as they sought justice for the victims of these heinous crimes.'

A Public Persona at Odds With Private Crimes

What clearly rattled prosecutors was not just the double life of a senior banker, but the evidence that Smith understood the reality of sexual violence long before his arrest.

They pointed to an article he wrote in The Harvard Crimson in 1998, the year after his graduation, in which he observed that 'there is something particularly traumatic about being raped by someone a victim knows and had even liked or trusted.'

In that same piece, he described 'the right to say no to sex' as 'a human right, a basic right of control over one's body.'

In a letter to the judge before sentencing, Smith acknowledged his downfall, saying it was 'obvious to all that I have fallen from the pinnacle of success to the pit of destitution and disgrace.'

He asked to be seen as someone who had 'long put his errors behind him' and had reconnected with his family, adding, 'The man I used to be embarrasses me. I don't want to be him ever again.'

The sentencing followed an investigation into Smith's conduct between about 2015 and June 2024, during which he was accused of drugging, sexually assaulting and coercing multiple women.

Court records state that Smith, who worked at Citigroup from 2021 until his arrest in 2024, used his status, wealth and New York Central Park South home to lure vulnerable young women from abroad and from distant US states.

The case widened as investigators uncovered a large cache of child sexual abuse material on his devices, including images of toddlers and infants.

It can be recalled that Smith ultimately chose to plead guilty to charges related to drugging two women, receipt of child pornography, and later attempts to obstruct the federal investigation.

According to the US Attorney's Office, he also 'admitted to additional conduct relating to other victims' during the proceedings.

Authorities have urged anyone who believes they may have been victimised by Smith, or who has information about his conduct, to contact the FBI.