FTX Founder SBF Moves to Calmer Terminal Island Facility After Notorious Victorville Stint

Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founding father of cryptocurrency trade FTX, has been transferred to a brand new federal jail following his stint in one of many nation’s most infamous services.

The 33-year-old, who was sentenced in March 2024 to 25 years for orchestrating one of many largest monetary frauds in historical past, is now housed on the low-security Federal Correctional Establishment (FCI) Terminal Island in Los Angeles.

SBF’s Begins New Chapter

The most recent transfer comes as a significant shift from his earlier location, the Victorville Medium II Federal Correctional Establishment in California, also called “Victimville” for its violent and gang-driven inmate tradition. Bankman-Fried had beforehand been held at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Middle in addition to a switch heart in Oklahoma.

Not like Victorville, which is infamous for frequent stabbings and a harsh, race-based gang dynamic, Terminal Island gives a far calmer and fewer unstable surroundings. Located alongside the waterfront in San Pedro, California, the power reportedly supplies inmates with scenic views, higher meals, and entry to a spread of applications. Terminal Island’s provisions embody a regulation library, wellness initiatives, and vocational coaching in fields reminiscent of plumbing, welding, and cooking.

Inmates on the facility have spoken positively about its comparatively low stage of violence, with one supply noting that the jail is “by the water” and thought of a “wannabe political yard.”

Authorized Combat and Jail Stunt

The shift in Bankman-Fried’s environment doesn’t sign the top of his authorized battles. He continues to appeal his conviction, which incorporates prices of wire fraud, securities fraud, and commodities fraud, and is actively looking for a pardon from US President Donald Trump.

SBF’s try to affect public notion features a high-profile interview with Tucker Carlson, carried out whereas he was at Brooklyn’s MDC, which led to fast backlash and a stint in solitary confinement. In the meantime, Mark Botnick, a public relations strategist who had been representing the FTX founder, resigned after the stunt.

Terminal Island, which as soon as housed infamous mobster Al Capone, American prison and cult chief Charles Manson, and LSD advocate Timothy Leary, at present accommodates over 900 inmates, together with different convicted fraudsters like online game entrepreneur Mouli Cohen.