The former CEO of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, has been relocated to a federal transfer center in Oklahoma City, as confirmed by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. This facility frequently accommodates inmates who are being moved across the country. Bankman-Fried has expressed a desire to be placed in a prison in California, in proximity to his parents, Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried.
Bankman-Fried’s legal representative did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Previously, Bankman-Fried was held on the fourth floor of Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, a section designated for high-profile inmates including figures like Sean “Diddy” Combs and Luigi Mangione. Since August 2023, he had been at the facility after his bail was revoked by a judge for allegedly tampering with a government witness. In March 2024, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison for defrauding FTX customers and investors.
His transfer comes in the wake of a media surge where he engaged in various unapproved communications. These included a discussion with a reporter from the New York Sun, posts on his X account via a close associate, and an interview with Tucker Carlson, former Fox News host, who now runs an online show. The Carlson interview involved the unauthorized use of a Zoom platform designated for inmate-attorney communications.
The interview resulted in Bankman-Fried spending a day in solitary confinement. According to three federal prison consultants who spoke with Fortune, this incident is likely just the start of an investigation by the Bureau of Prisons that could lead to various sanctions or punishments, ranging from the loss of phone privileges to potentially extended imprisonment.
Bankman-Fried’s burst of media activity coincides with his efforts, supported by his parents and friends, to seek a presidential pardon from Donald Trump. He would not be the first white-collar criminal to receive such clemency. Recently, Trump granted a pardon to Ross Ulbricht, the former operator of the dark web marketplace Silk Road, and to Trevor Milton, the founder of the bankrupt trucking company Nikola, who was convicted of securities fraud.
This report was originally published on Fortune.com.
