According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, is being transferred to a new prison.
A representative for Bankman-Fried confirmed the move, although the exact destination has not yet been revealed.
Sam Bankman-Fried is probably moving to California
Sources familiar with the situation suggest that Bankman-Fried will likely be transferred from the prison in Brooklyn, New York, where he has been held for the past nine months, to a federal correctional facility in Mendota, California.
According to the Bureau of Prisons website, Mendota is home to a medium security prison and a minimum security satellite camp. The move would bring Bankman-Fried closer to her parents’ residence near Stanford University, about a two-and-a-half-hour drive away.
The move follows federal prosecutors’ recommendations several weeks ago that Bankman-Fried be moved to a lower-security facility in California, allowing her to be closer to her family in Palo Alto.
Despite these recommendations, SBF had previously expressed a preference to remain in Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC), a mixed-security facility in New York, to maintain easier access to its legal team working on its appeal. ·lation
Transfer and sentence to prison
As of this writing, it remains to be seen whether Bankman-Fried has left MDC Brooklyn or arrived at its speculated new location in California.
Last fall, a jury found Bankman-Fried guilty after facing charges that included two counts of wire fraud, two counts of wire fraud conspiracy, one count of securities fraud and conspiracy to commit merchandise fraud, and one count of money laundering conspiracy.
This was considered one of the largest financial frauds in US history. It led to the theft of billions of dollars from FTX customers and led to the collapse of the once prominent cryptocurrency platform, which went bankrupt at the end of 2022.
After his conviction, Bankman-Fried was initially held at MDC Brooklyn. However, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan of the Southern District of New York revoked his bail early last year because of allegations of witness tampering.
On March 28, Judge Kaplan sentenced Bankman-Fried to 25 years in prison, three years of supervised release and forfeiture of $11 billion. However, he has since appealed his conviction and fraud conviction.
Meanwhile, Ryan Salame will be sentenced on May 28 for his involvement in the collapse of the crypto exchange. Other members of Bankman-Fried’s inner circle who cooperated with authorities, Caroline Ellison, Nishad Singh and Gary Wang, are still awaiting sentencing.
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