Why is Sam Bankman-Fried treated more leniently than someone facing illegal immigration charges?

Sam Bankman Freed was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for his fraud and conspiracy convictions, but he will likely spend less than 60 percent of that, or about 15 years, in actual prison. So Mr. Bankman-Fried could serve a sentence at a far lower rate than the thousands of immigrants convicted each year for crossing the border. This unequal treatment is unjust.

Mr. Bankman Freed will likely receive this reduced sentence through the First Step Act. The First Step Act, signed by then-President Trump in 2018, gives some federal prisoners the opportunity to shave years off their sentences. If the prisoner meets the legal qualifications, have the right to For every 30 days worked, you will receive 15 days of “earned time credits.” One year of his credit will go toward ending his sentence early, and the rest will go toward transferring him from prison to an aid facility or home confinement. If a federal prison inmate received all possible earned time credits in addition to her 54 days of “good time” credits that she could earn each year, she would only serve approximately 207 days per sentence. For example, Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, who was sentenced to 11 years and three months in prison last year, will likely serve just over six years.

This is a huge benefit for white-collar defendants like Bankman Fried.Unfortunately, immigrant defendants who have been ordered deported Unable to receive earned time credits And they make up a significant portion of federal defendants. Since the early 2010s, the most commonly charged federal crime is re-entering the United States after deportation. 10,000 to 25,000 immigrants are prosecuted This crime occurs every year depending on the presidential administration.

Illegal reentry is a victimless crime that involves merely entering the United States, but a conviction can result in up to 20 years in federal prison. The average sentence for illegal reentry is 2022 was 13 months, But many texts are much more advanced than that. And more than 99 percent of the defendants in these cases are from Latin America.

Thus, the First Step Act created a federal prison system that discriminated based on immigration status. One of the largest federal defendants, made up almost entirely of Latinos, makes up a significant portion of the sentences. Immigrant defendants like Holmes who are deported with 11-year sentences will serve nine years instead of six. Adding to the injustice, the vast majority of immigrant federal defendants (unlike Holmes and Bankman-Fried) are imprisoned for victimless crimes. They were not convicted of defrauding customers and investors of billions of dollars, they were simply convicted of crossing borders.

This discrimination cannot be justified by the argument that the Bureau of Prisons should conserve programming resources for the American people. The First Step Act requires inmates to participate in programs such as drug treatment and other classes if recommended by the prison. However, even if such classes are not available or deemed unnecessary, for every 30 days a prisoner serves he will receive 15 days of leave. If the Bureau of Prisons chooses not to use programming resources against immigrants, that is its prerogative, but it should give them the same treatment that other prisoners receive.

The First Step Act’s earned time credit system is a major step towards a more humane criminal justice system. This gives inmates like Bankman-Freed hope that they can return to society more quickly and motivates them to spend their time in prison productively.

That should not be denied to the tens of thousands of Latin American immigrants we imprison for re-entering the United States. Congress should end this discrimination. Failing that, federal judges should reduce immigrants’ sentences to correct the disparity.

Eric Fish is a professor of law at the University of California, Davis. He previously served as a federal public defender.