San Francisco, California: Nima Momeni Sentenced to 16 Years to Life for Killing Cash App Founder Bob Lee

A San Francisco judge on Tuesday sentenced tech consultant Nima Momeni to 16 years to life in prison for the stabbing death of Cash App founder Bob Lee, closing the court case that followed one of the most closely watched killings in the city's tech community.

San Francisco Superior Court Judge Alexandra Gordon imposed the sentence after rejecting Momeni's request for a new trial. Momeni, 42, was convicted of second-degree murder by a jury in December 2024. He has been in custody since his arrest nine days after the April 4, 2023 killing, and KTVU reported the sentence carries credit for time served, plus restitution and fees.

Family speaks at sentencing

Members of Lee's family addressed the court on Tuesday. His daughter Scout Lee, 18, spoke directly to Momeni. "You did not just end his life, you ended an entire future built around a man," she said, according to media reports cited by CNN.

Momeni, wearing an orange jail jumpsuit, maintained that he acted in self-defense and told Lee's family that he understood their loss. "Unfortunately, we have completely different understandings of what transpired," he said. His attorneys have said they plan to appeal.

The 2023 killing

Lee, 43, was found staggering on a deserted downtown street in the early morning hours of April 4, 2023, leaving a trail of blood and calling for help. He later died at a hospital. Lee had created the mobile payment service Cash App and was the chief product officer of the cryptocurrency company MobileCoin when he died. He had recently moved to Miami from the San Francisco Bay Area and had returned to California for a visit.

Prosecutors said Momeni planned the attack, driving Lee to an isolated spot under the Bay Bridge and stabbing him three times, including once to the heart, with a knife taken from his sister's kitchen. Prosecutors said Momeni was angry with Lee for introducing his younger sister to a drug dealer who she says gave her GHB and other drugs and then sexually assaulted her.

Momeni testified that Lee attacked him first with the knife, angry after Momeni chided him about spending more time with his family instead of searching for a strip club that night. Momeni said he did not realize he had fatally wounded Lee or that Lee was even hurt. Jurors deliberated for seven days, rejected his self-defense claim, and also rejected a first-degree murder charge, which would have required proof that he acted deliberately and with premeditation.

The road to sentencing

Sentencing was delayed for nearly two years after the December 2024 verdict while Momeni's legal team pushed for a new trial, arguing under the California Racial Justice Act that the conviction should be overturned because of alleged racial or ethnic bias in the trial. KTVU reported that the judge denied that claim in September after finding no evidence of racial bias. Judge Gordon rejected the remaining request for a new trial on Tuesday before imposing the 16 years to life sentence.