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The former crypto white knight was arrested for mishandling of users’ funds and other charges by the Bahamian police on December 13, 2023, and was held at the notorious Fox Hill prison. Sam knew he would be arrested and pictured the prison-like “The Shawshank Redemption.”
During an interview with Forbes, published on Thursday, Bankman said, “I thought that it was going to be like The Shawshank Redemption.”
The Shawshank Redemption
Released in 1994, starring Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins as the main characters of Red and Andy Dufresne, it was a cult classic and nominated for seven Academy Awards. It is believed to be a cult classic, where a formerly successful banker Andy is convicted for his wife’s murder, serving two consecutive life imprisonments. Where he meets Red, a fellow inmate, the two become best friends, and Andy spends 19 years digging his way out of prison.
The movie created a base of loyal fans and is considered the best prison drama film ever made. With an IMDB rating of 9.3 out of 10.
Life at Fox Hill
SBF also thought of a similar story, imagining his life at Fox Hill, where he will be showering with a garden hose, drying off with a small towel, sleeping on the worst possible bed made out of cardboard, with semi-soft plastic on top for stilts. But nothing went as imagined.
Fox Hill has a bad name, is known to be infested with rodents, and lacks basic amenities. Prisoners use buckets to relieve themselves. Overpopulated, unhygienic, and lacking amenities, the prison was nowhere near what SBF had imagined.
Sam was assigned a room with five other inmates at the prison’s infirmary and was kept away from the prison’s general population. Probably owing to the gravity of the crime. Bankman used the suit jacket he wore for the court appearance as a pillow. Although he never felt threatened by the inmates, he even made some friends, while others asked him for money. Occasionally he would have access to a newspaper.
Even in such situations, Sam felt worst was the lack of internet. Saying
“I didn’t realize how much more important than everything else combined internet access is to me, but that was like 80% of the total cost of being in prison.”
Claiming that, during the stay, he was limited to only one 30-minute phone call, but meetings with the Bahamian lawyers were a daily affair.
Back on the US Soil
Initially, SBF and his legal team were adamant about fighting the extradition, even claiming to do so at any cost. But after just seven days at Fox Hill changed his mind to sign the extradition deal and be brought to the United States on December 20, 2023.
Sam was flown to the US on a private FBI plane and taken to a local police station in White Plains, New York. He was released on a $250,000 bail bond, partially backed by his parent’s home in California, worth $4 million. Bankman has been under house arrest since wearing an ankle bracelet awaiting trials starting on October 2, 2023.
Andrew is a blockchain developer who developed his interest in cryptocurrencies while pursuing his post-graduation major in blockchain development. He is a keen observer of details and shares his passion for writing, along with coding. His backend knowledge about blockchain helps him give a unique perspective to his writing skills, and a reliable craft at explaining the concepts such as blockchain programming, languages and token minting. He also frequently shares technical details and performance indicators of ICOs and IDOs.
