SBF on the Move Again: From ‘Victimville’ to Low-Security Prison

The Federal Bureau of Prisons has transferred FTX co-founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried to the low-security Federal Correctional Institution Terminal Island in Los Angeles, following a stop at the notoriously violent medium-security facility in Victorville, California, according to the agency’s inmate registry.

“This is a wannabe political yard,” an inmate told the Zoukis Consulting Group, which curates information about different prisons on a website. 

Other inmates added that “the food and location are great,” and noted that “it’s by the water” and there’s a “lack of violence.”

That’s far different from the Victorville prison, dubbed “Victimville,” where Bankman-Fried spent nearly two weeks after FOB moved him from an Oklahoma Transfer Center earlier this month.

SBF, who in November 2023 was sentenced to 25 years in prison for defrauding FTX’s users, spent more than 18 months at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Terminal Island is in the harbor neighborhood of San Pedro, nearly three hours southwest of Victorville and 45 minutes from downtown Los Angeles. Built in the late 1930s, the facility, which houses more than 900 inmates, was famously home to ailing mobster Al Capone in 1939. SBF’s prison mates will include video game entrepreneur Mouli Cohen and former stockbroker Anthony Elgindy, both of whom were convicted on fraud and other charges. 

Bankman-Fried will have access to a law library and can spend up to $360 a month from a commissary account. The prison offers wellness and social programs, along with apprenticeships in welding, plumbing, pipe fitting, cabinet making, cooking, and baking, among other occupations. However, one inmate described the medical and dental care as “horrible.”

Still that’s a major change from Victorville, where fights and stabbings were described as common, and inmates felt that they needed to belong to specific groups for their safety.

It isn’t immediately clear when Bankman-Fried transferred to FCI Terminal Island. The Bureau of Prisons didn’t immediately reply to Decrypt’s inquiry on the matter. 

Bankman-Fried was found guilty of seven charges, including wire fraud, securities fraud, and commodities fraud. 

His transfer comes amid signs that public memory of FTX’s implosion has largely faded in the U.S. Regulators under the more crypto-friendly oversight of the Tump administration have ratcheted back their restrictions on the industry. 

It also follows lawyers’ efforts to secure the transfer of Bankman-Fried, who is autistic, to a lower-security facility due to his neurological condition and lack of prior criminal history. 

Bankman-Fried filed an appeal of his conviction last fall, alleging he was “presumed guilty” long before his weeks-long trial. 

With the help of his parents, he is reportedly seeking a pardon from U.S. President Donald Trump.

Edited by James Rubin