Is this where Sam Bankman-Fried will spend the next 25 years? Inside ... trends now
Sam Bankman-Fried may serve his 25 year prison sentence in a low- to medium- security prison in California - but the ultimate decision on where will be up to federal prison officials.
There are a handful of options on the West Coast, where Bankman-Fried was raised by his Stanford professor parents. Some prisons are kept close by their home, while others are shipped to prisons across the nation.
Now that he's been sentenced to prison, Bankman-Fried will soon learn where he is spending the next two decades of his life.
In last minute pleas, Bankman-Fried lawyers argued that his vegan diet and autism meant he should serve no longer than six years behind bars.
Bankman-Fried's veganism, as well as his ADHD, have long been among the favorite mitigating arguments of his lawyers.
In August 2023, his former lead defense lawyer Mark Cohen complained that the Metropolitan Dentention Center in Brooklyn wasn't accommodating Bankman-Fried's vegan diet nor was it allowing him his ADHD medication. Cohen argued this hampered his client's ability to prepare for the trial.
'He’s literally now subsisting on bread and water and sometimes peanut butter,' Cohen said in a court hearing.
Sam Bankman-Fried will soon learn where he is spending the next two decades behind bars, with the decision being made by the federal Bureau of Prisons
Pictured: FCI Herlong in California, which could where Bankman-Fried is sentenced to live out his coming years. One of Herlong's most notable inmates, rapper B.G., was released from the prison last year after serving 12 years of his 14-year sentence
Bankman-Fried's special diet will likely be accommodated because according to the Bureau of Prisons 2024 National Menu, there are vegan options. The seven-day menu dictates mainline food offerings at its prison locations.
For breakfast, there are items such as fruit, hot grits, milk substitute and margarine. It should be noted that some margarines brands do have animal products.
For lunch and dinner, vegan inmates could have things like pinto beans, steamed rice, green peas, a baked potato with margarine, or a garden salad depending on the day.
Both Herlong and Mendota also have commissaries where prisoners can buy snacks such as chips, cookies, nuts and ramen. Theoretically, Bankman-Fried's parents could supply him with money to go to the commissary.
With Bankman-Fried's worries about what he'll eat for the next 25 years put to bed, Christopher Zoukis, an federal prisons expert, broke the down the factors that determine which prison Bankman-Fried will end up for DailyMail.com. He said that he believes Bankman-Fried will likely be sent to a West Coast jail, like FCI Herlong or Mendota.
Zoukis explained the Federal Bureau of Prisons applies a security point value to prisoners that in part determines which kind of prison they'll be housed in.
The sentence length also greatly informs where a convict will end up.
Generally, public safety factor guidelines stipulate that if someone has 10 or more years left to serve, they need to end up in a low security facility.
More than twenty years demands at least a medium-security designation, while more than 30 years requires at least a high security placement.
Bankman-Fried's 25-year sentence is the main reason he's likely headed for a medium security facility.
