Disgraced Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried actually simply moved to California after an unsanctioned jail interview – however are these strikes a part of a much bigger recreation? Right here’s a glance inside SBF’s jail playbook.
Sam Bankman-Fried, the crypto poster boy turned convicted felon, has resurfaced within the headlines once more—this time not for courtroom drama or change meltdowns, however for quietly being relocated to a infamous Los Angeles jail with a Hollywood-level inmate historical past.
From Al Capone to Charles Manson, Terminal Island Federal Correctional Establishment (often called ‘the Jail by the ocean’) is now house to the disgraced founding father of FTX, who’s serving 25 years for one of many greatest monetary frauds in trendy historical past.
Inside Terminal Island: How Did Sam Bankman-Fried Land Low Safety With a Sea View?
Terminal Island could also be low-security on paper, however make no mistake, regardless of its coastal location close to Hollywood, this isn’t some white-collar nation membership for disgraced executives.
Situated on an remoted strip between the Port of Los Angeles and the Pacific, the ability is notorious for housing a few of America’s most infamous inmates over the many years, together with mob boss Al Capone, cult chief Charles Manson, and extra just lately, Theranos COO Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani.
In the present day, it holds over 1,000 male inmates, most of whom are serving time for federal drug, white-collar, or immigration-related crimes. Cells are cramped, double-bunked, and safety stays tight regardless of the “low-security” designation.
A 2022 Jail Infrastructure Report on situations in Terminal Island Jail by the Justice Division discovered that “As of Might 2022, FCI Terminal Island recognized over $100,000,000 in wanted tasks for which funding shouldn’t be at the moment accessible.”
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Inmates observe a inflexible each day schedule, with necessary work assignments, regimented meal instances, and minimal privateness.
Sources accustomed to the ability describe it as “institutional monotony meets quiet menace”, which means much less violent than high-security prisons, however nonetheless a spot the place alliances, pecking orders, and unstated guidelines govern each day life.
Leisure entry features a fundamental library, restricted electronic mail privileges, and supervised recreation yards. However what actually defines Terminal Island is its air of pale infamy, and the psychological weight of being warehoused amongst males who both made historical past, or tried to cheat it.
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What’s Sam Bankman-Fried’s Jail Playbook? From Carlson Interviews to LA Jail Transfers
However this isn’t simply one other jail switch. It’s a strategic shift, insiders say, following a string of audacious strikes from the fallen crypto kingpin, who seems to be orchestrating a weird redemption arc from behind bars.
Weeks earlier than the switch, SBF shocked the general public with a rogue interview from jail, broadcast by Tucker Carlson.
The interview, which can have been carried out by way of a smuggled smartphone, aired with out the Bureau of Prisons’ approval and reportedly landed Bankman-Fried in solitary confinement. That, nonetheless, hasn’t stopped him.
The truth is, it looks like a part of a broader playbook.
Leaked Google Docs from SBF’s pre-sentencing days revealed plans to rehabilitate his public picture by conservative media.
One bullet level actually learn: “go on Tucker Carlsen, come out as Republican, anti-woke.” A typo, and a technique, worthy of a Netflix script.
(Supply)
The timing is something however random. With Donald Trump again in workplace and a protracted historical past of presidential pardons for politically handy allies, Bankman-Fried seems to be realigning himself as a MAGA-friendly martyr, hoping to pivot from crypto villain to misunderstood libertarian whistleblower.
In the course of the Carlson interview, SBF even claimed his $15 billion empire might have repaid customers in full, brushing previous the brutal actuality of his $11 billion restitution order. He dismissed the convictions of former FTX associates—Caroline Ellison, Ryan Salame, Gary Wang—as political theater, subtly portray himself because the final trustworthy man in a system rigged by prosecutors.
And now, in Terminal Island, removed from the media frenzy of Brooklyn, however nonetheless shut sufficient to California’s political heartbeat, SBF is rebuilding his subsequent transfer.
His cellmates is probably not financiers, however his script appears extra political than penitential.
Whether or not that is the start of a pardon bid or simply one other delusion from a fallen empire builder, one factor is for certain: Sam Bankman-Fried shouldn’t be accomplished speaking. And this story is much from over.
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