Crypto fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison. If nothing changes, he’ll be released more than four years early.
A jury convicted Bankman-Fried of seven counts of fraud and conspiracy at a criminal trial that dissected the fall of FTX, his defunct cryptocurrency exchange.
Prosecutors proved the young entrepreneur and his inner circle of executives funneled customer funds to themselves by commingling money with Alameda Research, Bankman-Fried’s hedge fund. The scheme, prosecutors said, amounted to an $11 billion fraud.
A judge sentenced Bankman-Fried in March 2024 to 25 years in prison. He was first held at the Metropolitan Detention Center — a notorious Brooklyn prison.
While there, he shared a dorm-style room with Sean “Diddy” Combs and gave a surprise March interview with Tucker Carlson, prompting his crisis manager to quit.
Bankman-Fried was later moved to FCI-Terminal Island, a prison in San Pedro, California, that houses 850 low-security male inmates, according to the Bureau of Prisons.
The BOP estimates that Bankman-Fried will be released on December 14, 2044, less than 21 years after he was sentenced.
A lawyer representing Bankman-Fried on appeal didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
While the BOP does not comment on specific inmates’ conditions of confinement, a spokesman told Business Insider that release dates are calculated by considering projected “Good Conduct Time.” Qualifying people serving prison time are eligible to earn 54 days for each year of their sentence, the bureau said.
Incarcerated individuals can also reduce their time by participating in certain programs offered in the prison.
“Lastly, individuals may also receive credit for time incarcerated before their date of sentencing,” the spokesman said.
Bankman-Fried had his bail revoked and was imprisoned two months before his trial after he showed a journalist his onetime girlfriend, Caroline Ellison’s, private writings.
Ellison, who was the CEO of Bankman-Fried’s Alameda Research cryptocurrency hedge fund, was sentenced to two years in prison for her role in the scheme. About six months were shaved from her sentence through the same process.
The BOP now estimates she’ll be released in May 2026.
