Convicted cryptocurrency kingpin Sam Bankman-Fried reportedly used mackerel fish sandwiches to pay for a haircut while locked up, the currency of choice for detainees at Brooklyn’s notorious high-security detention center.
Bankman-Fried, who faces more than 100 years in prison when he is sentenced in March following last month’s conviction for fraud and money laundering in connection with the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has been held at the Detention Center Metropolitan since August, when a federal court judge revoked his bail.
The Brooklyn jail has long been accused of inhumane conditions exacerbated by persistent staffing shortages, power outages and worms in inmates’ food.
It also bans cigarettes, the traditional item traded behind bars, forcing prisoners to trade products such as smelly fish sandwiches, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Bankman-Fried, an avowed vegan, had shocked observers in court at the start of the trial when he abandoned his disheveled hairstyle in favor of a tidier look.
The 31-year-old seems to be making the best of his bad situation. He has been giving cryptocurrency advice to prison guards while being fed vegetarian meals, according to sources cited by the Journal.
“Sam is doing the best he can under the circumstances,” Bankman-Fried spokesman Mark Botnick told The Journal.
The FTX founder, who at the height of his success lived in a $30 million penthouse in the Bahamas, shares a cell with the former president of Honduras and a Mexican police official suspected of helping the Sinaloa drug cartel to smuggle 50 tons. of cocaine to the United States.
Like other inmates, Bankman-Fried is allowed a non-lawyer visitor once a week. He also has access to a specialized laptop that limits him to legal material related to his case.
Bill Baroni, a lawyer who served time in federal prison for his role in the “Bridgegate” scandal, told The Journal that Bankman-Fried’s life will be easier once he is sentenced.
At the Brooklyn facility, he has little freedom of movement. His meals are delivered to his cell as he does not have the option of dining with other inmates in a cafeteria-like environment.
“When he is sentenced, his life will improve,” Baroni told The Journal.
“He will be outside the facilities with the most violent people.”
