SBF prison life: living with the former president of Honduras, exchanging mackerel for services, and giving crypto investment advice to guards

The Wall Street Journal reported on Nov. 23 an update on FTX co-founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried’s prison living conditions.

The newspaper said SBF had been placed in the dormitory of former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández , who is awaiting trial for accepting bribes from drug traffickers. The two men appeared to have a good relationship: Hernández's lawyer said the two prisoners had a "cordial conversation."

The Journal added that SBF's difficulties in obtaining vegetarian food and ADHD medication in prison have been resolved.

It states that SBF is allowed to see non-lawyer visitors once a week. He is also allowed to use a special laptop to review legal documents, although his computer use is limited to a dedicated room with a partitioned desk.

SBF spokesman Mark Botnick noted that the former FTX executive is “doing the best he can under the circumstances.”

SBF gets involved in prison economy

The Journal also claimed that SBF was trading bags of mackerel with other inmates in exchange for services. He reportedly traded an undisclosed amount of mackerel for a haircut before his trial in November.

After the federal smoking ban eliminated cigarettes as a viable alternative, mackerel packets (worth about $1.30 each) became de facto prison currency. (Incidentally, another former crypto criminal, Charlie Shrem, has previously commented on the economics of prison mackerel trading.)

According to an unnamed source of the Wall Street Journal, SBF also provided advice to the guards on cryptocurrency investments.

SBF will be transferred after sentencing

SBF is currently being held at the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center, which is notorious for its harsh conditions. He will be transferred to a federal prison to serve out his sentence, where he may be given greater freedom of movement, better education and recreational resources, and be with a less violent prison population, according to the Wall Street Journal, citing a prison consultant.

SBF was convicted for his role in the FTX fraud but has yet to be sentenced. His sentencing is scheduled for March 28, 2024, and a second trial will deal with charges of campaign finance fraud and bribing Chinese officials.

SBF's current maximum sentence is 115 years in prison, though some experts suggest he will be sentenced to 25 years or less.