STORY: Lawyers for Sam Bankman Fried...the disgraced founder of the now defunct crypto exchange FTX...say his trial may need to be delayed.

It's meant to be happening in October... but in a Wednesday letter to U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan....

his legal team said it may take more time than expected to review the evidence and prepare a defense.

Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty in January to eight criminal counts --

-- which included wire fraud and conspiracy to launder money.

Prosecutors accuse him of stealing billions of dollars in customer funds to plug losses at his Alameda Research hedge fund,

...in what they have called an "epic" fraud.

Late last month, new fraud and conspiracy charges were added, raising the number of counts to twelve.

In the letter on Wednesday, Bankman-Fried's lawyers noted the new charges,

and added that federal prosecutors had not yet turned over evidence collected from electronic devices

belonging to Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang, previously two of their client's closest associates.

Both have since pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.

Bankman-Fried was released on $250 million bond and has been under house arrest at his parents' Palo Alto, California home.

Judge Kaplan has suggested the bail could be revoked after prosecutors said Bankman-Fried may have tried to tamper with witnesses.

The schedule for the trial and bail conditions will be discussed at a hearing on Friday.