Nima Momeni was sentenced to 16 years to life in prison on Tuesday for the second-degree murder of Cash App founder Bob Lee.
The sentencing, handed down by San Francisco Superior Court Judge Alexandra Gordon, brings a close to a high-profile case that drew international attention to the tech industry and San Francisco’s public safety.
Trial of Nima Momeni for the stabbing death of Bob Lee
The proceedings took place nearly two years after a jury found Momeni, 42, guilty of second-degree murder in December 2024. The trial, which spanned two months, featured dozens of testimonies, including from Momeni himself, his sister Khazar Momeni, and Jeremy Boivin, a man identified in court as a drug dealer.
#New: Nina Momeni has been sentenced for the second degree murder of CashApp founder Bob Lee: 15 years to life plus one year enhancement .. (Minus time served). Not eligible for probation. Momeni will serve his sentence in state prison. pic.twitter.com/hmdOZhgKw1
Prosecutors established that Lee, 43, was stabbed three times—including once to the heart—with a kitchen knife taken from the home of Momeni’s sister. Following the attack in the early hours of April 4, 2023, security footage captured Lee staggering along a downtown street, bleeding and attempting to flag down passing vehicles while calling 911. He later died at a hospital.
Scout Lee, who was 14 at the time of the killing and is now 18, spoke directly to the defendant.
“Mr. Momeni, you didn’t just take my dad that day. You took my best friend.”
Scout Lee, daughter of Bob Lee
Scout Lee further told the court, You did not just end his life, you ended an entire future built around a man.
She added that the defendant had caused damage that no sentence could repair. Momeni’s mother, Mahnaz Tayarani, also addressed the judge, urging the court to consider the “totalityof her son’s life beyond the crime.
I am here because I love my son,Tayarani said. She began her statement by offering condolences to the Lee family, stating,
I know that no words can take away the pain of losing someone you love and I would never want my words today to diminish their grief or the life that has been lost.”
Statements by Nima Momeni and Judge Alexandra Gordon
He told the court that he understood the family’s loss, though he noted, Unfortunately, we have completely different understandings of what transpired.
He further stated, It was never my intention to see anyone hurt or suffer.
Before imposing the sentence, Judge Gordon spent over an hour detailing her rejection of Momeni’s motion for a new trial. The defense had alleged prosecutorial and juror misconduct, as well as ineffective counsel, and had referenced a nearly 100-page motion filed earlier in the year.
The judge ruled that Momeni is ineligible for probation and will serve his sentence in state prison. Momeni’s attorneys have indicated their intent to appeal the conviction.
Personal feud between Momeni and Lee
The case, which shocked the U.S. tech industry, initially prompted high-profile figures such as Elon Musk to highlight the killing as a symbol of lawlessness and random violence in San Francisco. However, evidence presented during the trial revealed a personal feud between the men. Prosecutors argued that Momeni was motivated by anger toward Lee for introducing his sister to a drug dealer, who she claimed had provided her with GHB and other substances before sexually assaulting her.
Momeni, a tech consultant who studies martial arts, testified that Lee had actually attacked him with a knife during an argument over how much time Lee was spending with his family rather than at a strip club. Momeni claimed he did not realize Lee had been fatally wounded at the time.
Lee, a renowned tech mogul, had recently relocated to Miami from the Bay Area, where his ex-wife Krista Lee resides with their two children, and was in California for a visit at the time of his death. Momeni has remained in custody since his arrest nine days after the incident.
