As Sam Bankman-Fried awaits sentencing next month for his role in the collapse of his cryptocurrency exchange FTX, the former billionaire and son of Stanford University law professors has apparently made some new friends while in federal lock-up in Brooklyn.
A photo shared by crypto crime reporter Tiffany Fong shows the disgraced mogul, still with his tousled hair but sporting some new “scruff.” The 31-year-old is seen standing alongside a former inmate identified as G Lock, a former member of the Bloods, and four other inmates in Brooklyn’s infamous Metropolitan Detention Center, the Daily Mail also reported.
For her YouTube Channel, Fong interviewed G Lock, who told her that Bankman-Fried is liked by other inmates, saying he’s “a good guy,” though he’s “strange” and “weird as (expletive).” In a preview of the interview, G Lock acknowledged that Bankman-Fried isn’t showering much — but not because he’s afraid of rumored prison shower attacks, insisting that the FTX founder isn’t being picked on by other inmates.
G Lock also agreed with Fong’s observation that Bankman-Fried had lost weight. “Sam had a belly, he was eating good,” G Lock said. “(Now) he’s skinny like a toothpick.”
But the former Blood member paid what could be regarded as a high compliment to Bankman-Fried. He compared his post-arrest actions to the notorious, rainbow-haired rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine, another one-time resident of Brooklyn’s MDC.
“He didn’t snitch on nobody. Sam is a gangster,” G Lock said. “Sam is more gangster than Tekashi 6ix9ine. Sam Bankman stood on all ten toes. Tekashi ratted.”
G Lock is referring to Tekashi 6ix9ine becoming persona non grata to many in the rap community for testifying against New York City gang members after being arrested in 2018 on federal racketeering and weapons and drug charges. 6ix9ine negotiated a deal with prosecutors to testify against Nine Trey Gangsters in exchange for a reduced two-year prison sentence.
Fong said the prison photo of Bankman-Fried is believed to have been taken Dec. 17. She explained that it’s probably the first photo taken of him since he was thrown into MDC in August 2023.
Bankman-Fried landed in MDC ahead of his trial this past fall. For nearly a year, Bankman-Fried had been on house arrest, after his parents, Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, secured a $250 million bond with the help of affluent Stanford associates. While on house arrest, Bankman-Fried lived in his parent’s spacious home on the Stanford University campus and engaged in interviews with journalists, including Fong and his biographer Michael Lewis. But his house arrest ended when a judge revoked his bond after prosecutors accused him of trying to intimidate witnesses.
During Bankman-Fried’s trial this past fall, no photos were allowed in the courtroom, Fong pointed out. The trial ended in early November with a jury finding Bankman-Fried guilty of seven counts of fraud and conspiracy, related to the theft of billions of dollars from accounts belonging to customers of his crypto exchange FTX. He was also found guilty of defrauding lenders to FTX’s sister company, the hedge fund Alameda Research, which held FTX customer funds in a bank account.
The verdict capped a yearlong saga for Bankman-Fried, who was once hailed as the boy wonder of crypto and an entrepreneur who fashioned himself as an eccentric genius and who hobnobbed with celebrities, politicians and Middle East potentates. He faces up to 110 years in prison when he is sentenced on March 28.
First appeared on www.marinij.com