Recently convicted cryptocurrency fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried is using packs of fish to purchase services while awaiting sentencing in Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC), The Wall Street Journal reported.
Bankman-Fried realized that mackerel fish became an important currency after it supplanted cigarettes when authorities prohibited smoking within the infamously brutal jail, individuals familiar with the situation told the WSJ. He gave multiple pouches of mackerel fish to another inmate in exchange for a haircut before his trial, one of the individuals told the WSJ. (RELATED: Parents Of Sam Bankman-Fried Accused Of Using Son’s Company To Enrich Themselves, Dem Political Org)
The convicted fraudster is rooming with former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández and former Secretary of Public Security in Mexico Genaro Garcia Luna, both of whom face drug charges, the WSJ reported. He also reportedly gives cryptocurrency advice to guards.
Funny update on Sam Bankman-Fried #SBF. #FTX
During his imprisoned life, Mackerel🐟 has become his new #Bitcoin! 🤣
SBF’s base currency in prison is now mackerel, trading “macks” for haircuts and more in jail.
– Trading Macro to Mackerel
– From a Whale to a Macks pic.twitter.com/XW6FCgsUkV— Rover.eth (@Rovereth_) November 24, 2023
Bankman-Fried’s former cryptocurrency exchange FTX collapsed in November 2022 amid allegations the company was mishandling billions in customer funds. A jury found the Democrat megadonor guilty of seven fraud and conspiracy-related charges in early November after the Department of Justice indicted him in August.
The former cryptocurrency CEO “misappropriated and embezzled FTX customer deposits, and used billions of dollars in stolen funds for a variety of purposes, including … to help fund over a hundred million dollars in campaign contributions to Democrats and Republicans to seek to influence cryptocurrency regulation,” according to the indictment.
Bankman-Fried contributed over $30 million overwhelmingly to back Democrat-aligned causes and was the second-largest individual contributor to them during the 2022 midterm election cycle, according to The Washington Post’s analysis of Federal Election Commission data.
The jury reached the guilty verdict after around four hours of deliberations, according to The Messenger. His sentencing is scheduled for March 28 and he faces over 100 years in prison, according to The New York Times.
MDC has experienced problems with understaffing, power outages, maggots in meals and corruption in recent years, according to Reuters.
“Sam’s doing the best he can under the circumstances,” Bankman-Fried Spokesman Mark Botnick, told the WSJ.
Bankman-Fried receives attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder medication and vegetarian meals after struggling to get them when first confined to the MDC in August, an individual familiar with the situation told the WSJ.
Bankman-Fried’s attorney and MDC did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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