Tech consultant sentenced to 16 years to life in Cash App founder's stabbing death

Nima Momeni, a tech consultant convicted in the stabbing death of Cash App founder Bob Lee, was sentenced in San Francisco on Tuesday to 16 years to life in prison.

The sentencing

A jury in December 2024 found Momeni guilty of second-degree murder, rejecting his claim that he acted in self-defense. Before imposing the sentence, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Alexandra Gordon rejected Momeni’s request for a new trial. His attorneys have said they plan to appeal.

Statements in court

Members of Lee’s family addressed the court, including his 18-year-old daughter, Scout Lee, who spoke directly to Momeni.

"You did not just end his life, you ended an entire future built around a man," she told Momeni, according to media reports.

Momeni, wearing an orange jail jumpsuit, maintained that he acted in self-defense. He told Lee’s family that he understood their loss.

"Unfortunately, we have completely different understandings of what transpired," Momeni said.

The case

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

Momeni testified that Lee was the one who attacked him with a knife, angry after the tech consultant chided him about spending more time with his family instead of searching for a strip club that night. Momeni, who studies martial arts, said he didn’t realize he had fatally wounded Lee or that Lee was even hurt.

Jurors rejected a charge of murder in the first degree, which required prosecutors prove that Momeni acted deliberately, willfully and with premeditation. Murder in the second degree does not require premeditation.

Why it matters

• Bob Lee created Cash App and was chief product officer of MobileCoin when he died.
• Lee was 43 and was found staggering on a deserted downtown street before dying at a hospital.
• Momeni has remained in custody since his arrest nine days after the April 4, 2023, killing.

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Sources

• thestar.com: Tech consultant sentenced to 16 years to life in stabbing death of Cash App founder Bob Lee
• edition.cnn.com: Nima Momeni sentenced to 16 years to life in stabbing death of Cash App founder Bob Lee | CNN
• theguardian.com: Nima Momeni sentenced to 16 years to life in murder of Cash App founder Bob Lee | San Francisco | The Guardian
• clintonherald.com: Tech consultant sentenced to 16 years to life in stabbing death of Cash App founder Bob Lee | National News | clintonherald.com

This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.