According to inmate records maintained by the Federal Bureau of Prisons as of May 23, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) is currently a detainee at the Federal Transfer Center located in Oklahoma City.
As per the Office of the Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Justice, the facility temporarily houses detainees pending systemic transfers.
Authorities may transfer the former CEO of FTX from the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn to the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in Mendota, according to reports dated May 22 and the relocation of SBF to Oklahoma. The transfer occurred despite Judge Lewis Kaplan of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York recommending that SBF remain at MDC Brooklyn.
Since a judge revoked his parole in August 2023, Bankman-Fried has resided in New York. After his sentencing hearing in March 2024, he conveyed his desire to continue being held at MDC Brooklyn to “facilitate access to his appellate counsel.” In November 2023, a jury found the former CEO of FTX guilty of seven felony counts. Subsequently, Judge Kaplan imposed a 25-year prison sentence on him.
Regarding Bankman-Fried’s whereabouts in New York, Judge Kaplan requested in a letter to the court dated May 22 that he remain “until his appeal has been fully briefed to facilitate access to appellate counsel.”
At the time of publication, it was unknown how long Bankman-Fried would remain confined to the facility in Oklahoma. The former CEO of FTX would stay near his parents’ San Francisco Bay Area residence if moved to FCI Mendota. The Oklahoma facility near Will Rogers World Airport is home to 1,414 detainees, per the Federal Bureau of Prisons website.
For his role in defrauding consumers, Bankman-Fried was the only individual associated with the failure of FTX and Alameda Research to enter a not-guilty plea and subsequently receive a conviction. Ryan Salame, Caroline Ellison, Gary Wang, and Nishad Singh, all former executives of FTX and Alameda, entered guilty pleas and reached agreements with the authorities. The scheduled date for Salame’s sentencing hearing is May 28.
Records show Sam Bankman-Fried was in the Federal Transfer Center in Oklahoma City, suggesting authorities may still transfer him to a prison in California.