Former CEO of FTX incarcerated in Oklahoma penitentiary despite judge’s plea

Formerly incarcerated in New York and California, the ex-CEO of FTX, Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried, has now been relocated to Oklahoma, as indicated by prison records. The Federal Transfer Center in Oklahoma City is temporarily holding him for transfers within the prison system, as stated by the Office of the Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Justice. This move to Oklahoma suggests that there may have been a transfer from the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn to the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in Mendota, despite Judge Lewis Kaplan’s recommendation for SBF to remain at MDC Brooklyn. Bankman-Fried had been residing in New York since his bail was revoked in August 2023 and had requested to stay at MDC Brooklyn after his March 2024 sentencing to facilitate access to his appellate counsel. In November 2023, he was convicted of seven felony counts, resulting in a 25-year prison sentence by Judge Kaplan. It remains uncertain how long Bankman-Fried will be held at the Oklahoma facility. If transferred to FCI Mendota, he would be closer to his parents’ residence in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Oklahoma facility near the Will Rogers World Airport currently houses 1,414 inmates, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ website. Bankman-Fried is the sole individual associated with the FTX and Alameda Research collapse who pleaded not guilty and was convicted for defrauding customers. Other former FTX and Alameda executives, including Ryan Salame, Caroline Ellison, Gary Wang, and Nishad Singh, pled guilty and made deals with authorities. Salame’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for May 28.