Inmates at the notorious Brooklyn prison where Sam Bankman Freed is being held are secretly collaborating with federal authorities to “blackmail” and “harass” the disgraced FTX tycoon. According to a former New York City police officer.
Bankman Fried, who was convicted of fraud last year, is being held at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center while awaiting sentencing for a potential 110-year prison sentence.
Carmine Simpson, a 29-year-old former police officer who was arrested in 2021 on suspicion of soliciting child pornography, told U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan that he was forced to eat “half-cooked meals” every week. He called for leniency towards Mr. Mann-Fried. Rice, spoonfuls of disgusting beans, and week-old brown lettuce. ”
Mr Simpson described conditions at MDC as “cruel and inhumane”.
“I would not want anyone to stay here, not even my greatest enemy,” Simpson wrote to the judge, adding, “The constant lockdowns, toothpaste, pills, pillows, etc. “People have been left without basic supplies and unable to contact their families for days or even weeks.” , friends, legal representatives. ”
Bankman Freed has been confined at MDC in Brooklyn since last summer. His bail was revoked after finding reason to believe that Mr. Kaplan had cheated on witnesses at least twice.
Bankman Freed, with shaggy hair and a beard, is pictured with former Bloods gang members in the disgraced crypto tycoon’s first photo from prison after being convicted of fraud last week. It was in the picture.
Bankman Freed’s attorneys asked Kaplan to sentence him to 63 to 78 months.
Meanwhile, federal prosecutors are seeking a maximum sentence of more than 100 years in prison.
In his motion for judicial leniency, Judge Simpson cited Bankman Fried’s claim of “effective altruism.”
“When he first said that the main reason he worked so hard to become a successful and wealthy man was to donate all his wealth to noble causes and people in need, “I thought he was blowing smoke up my ass,” Simpson said in a letter filed Tuesday in Manhattan federal court.
Simpson was convicted of multiple fraud and money laundering charges for allegedly misusing billions of dollars’ worth of FTX customer funds to finance risky bets made by his own hedge fund. “I recognized him as the most selfish person,” he wrote. I have never had the privilege of meeting so many people. ”
“Even in prison and surrounded by some of the lowest in our society, Sam would only see the good in everyone,” Simpson wrote.
The former officer urged Kaplan to be released from custody so he can “work and strive to improve the world.”
Simpson wrote that Bankman-Freed’s “incarceration was extremely difficult” because he was “more often targeted for harassment, harassment, and assault than the average prisoner.”
According to Simpson, “Sam’s estimated wealth is higher than the inmates can count,” which inevitably leads to “multiple extortion attempts.”
Before FTX’s collapse, Bankman Fried’s wealth was estimated to be in the billions of dollars.
In a month-long trial, three of Bankman Fried’s former aides publicly identified themselves as responsible stewards of the volatile virtual currency market, but accused Bankman Freed of running his own hedge fund, He testified that he directed him to help plunder FTX customer funds to cover Alameda Research’s losses. .
Prosecutors say Bankman Freed used customer funds to buy luxury real estate in the Bahamas, where FTX is based, and to donate money to U.S. politicians who might support crypto-friendly regulations. He said that he had done so.
Bankman Freed testified for three days, admitting failures such as failing to build a risk management team, but denying stealing anything, saying that until shortly before both went bankrupt, Alameda owed much to FTX. He also said he was not aware that he owed money.
Bankman Fried, whose net worth was once estimated by Forbes magazine at $26 billion, has ridden the soaring value of digital assets such as Bitcoin.
with post wire
