Nima Momeni, the man in 2024 convicted of murdering Cash App co-founder Bob Lee, was tentatively sentenced to 16 years to life in prison on Tuesday.
Judge Alexandra Gordon issue her sentencing order just after 2 p.m. from a Hall of Justice courtroom after hearing from family members of Momeni and Lee, including Lee’s 18-year-old daughter.
“I vividly remember the day my father was killed,” said Scout Lee, a high school senior, in court today. Scout Lee was 14 years old on April 4, 2023, when her father was killed. She said she had woken up from a nap that day to find “my mom sitting on the edge of my bed.” Her mother then said her father had been killed.
“Because of you, Mr. Momeni, we lost someone who could make a stranger feel like family and made family feel like we all belonged,” Scout Lee said.
Momeni’s sentencing comes three years after Lee’s killing and almost two years since Momeni was found guilty of second-degree murder, on Dec. 17, 2024. That charge means Momeni killed Lee willfully, but without premeditation.
Lee was well-known in Silicon Valley. He was an executive at Square, which created Cash App, and MobileCoin. His killing on San Francisco streets shocked the tech community — and quickly created a false narrative of rampant chaos and violence on city streets, promulgated by right-wing politicians and tech figures.
When Momeni, an Emeryville IT consultant, was arrested nine days after the killing, however, it became clear that Momeni and Lee were acquaintances and that the killing erupted from a personal dispute. Momeni’s sister, Khazar, alleges she was sexually assaulted by an acquaintance of Lee’s had introduced her to.
Prosecutors built a convincing case in the two-month trial that Momeni stabbed Lee three times on a street in Rincon Hill with a kitchen knife — twice to the chest and once to his hip.
Momeni had driven Lee from Khazar Momeni’s residence at the Millennium Tower in the early morning hours of April 4, where several people had been partying the night before.
The prosecution argued Momeni then lured Lee to a secluded area on Main Street between Folsom and Harrison streets, a few blocks from the water. Blurry surveillance footage showed Momeni lunge at Lee, and Lee subsequently stumbling down the block.
A figure presumed to be Momeni was seen on the footage hurling an object over a fence. The kitchen knife, which matched the cutlery at Khazar Momeni’s apartment, was discovered shortly after the stabbing.
Families and friends of both Lee and Momeni were in the courtroom today, and many were allowed to address the judge after sentencing.
“I’ve been sitting through 19 days of trial, watching him take the stand and lie and tear down my brother while Bob wasn’t there to answer,” said Oliver Lee, Bob’s brother, while pointing at Momeni. “Bob has had no voice. That ends today.”
Momeni’s mother, Mahnaz Tayarani Babai, addressed the court and expressed condolences to “both families.” She told Bob Lee’s ex-wife, Krista Lee, “I recognize your loss.”
When Babai addressed Judge Gordon, she said, “I hope you will consider the whole person he is” while acknowledging that no list of good deeds “can erase a tragedy.”
Today’s hearing started with nearly two hours of legal discussion surrounding Momeni’s claim that his first trial had been unfair — citing a litany of alleged legal missteps, including inadequate counsel, mischaracterizations by attorneys and even that Judge Gordon had made inappropriate facial expressions during the trial.
Gordon reviewed those claims over the first two hours and determined that none of them were grounds for a retrial. She then issued a tentative sentencing order, heard from the families and issued her final order.
She said Momeni would receive time served for the almost four years he has been in jail.
