Sam Bankman-Fried was reportedly concerned about his safety during his pretrial detention at the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center and even considered paying another inmate for “protection,” according to a former inmate.
Gene Borrello, New York mob enforcer turned informant, told crypto blogger Tiffany Fong in a Nov. 30 article. interview who spent time with Bankman-Fried in the run-up to his criminal trial. He said SBF was “out of his element” in jail and worried about his safety.
I had the opportunity to interview Gene Borrello, a former mobster who was in prison with Sam Bankman-Fried. Gene tells me that SBF was on suicide watch, he was blackmailed and didn't eat or shower for several days. We also discuss how Sam spends his time in prison, bullying, sentencing, and more. pic.twitter.com/nszTXVUrSQ
—Tiffany Fong (@TiffanyFong_) November 30, 2023
Borrello said that during his time there, other prisoners viewed the former cryptocurrency magnate as shy, who had "the body of an 80-year-old" and was presumed to have access to money.
“He has the body of an 80-year-old person. It's shapeless, you know what I mean?
A prisoner reportedly tried to frighten Bankman-Fried into extorting protection money from him, according to Borello.
“[The other prisoner] "I wanted Sam Bankman to feel like 'this is dangerous here, you need protection,'" he recalled.
However, Bankman-Fried was staying in a Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center unit that separated the wealthy and government aid workers from the general prison population, Borello said.
“I kept saying, 'It's not dangerous here. You don't need protection. Don't worry about that. You don't have to pay anyone anything. Don't listen to these damn kids.'”
Borrello claims he confronted the other prisoner, leading to a fight. They were both placed in the jail's special housing unit (solitary confinement) and Borello claimed he spent 80 days there.
Borrello recalled talking to Bankman-Fried and telling him: "When he talks to you, he puts his head down, he's very shy, he talks very nervously." He also said he asked the former billionaire what he had spent his money on.
“I said, 'What are you doing with the money? What kind of watch did you have? He said, 'I had an Apple Watch,'” Borrello recounted. "I said, 'What kind of car were you driving?' He said, 'a 2020 Toyota Camry.'”
“My friends and I say, 'So what the fuck did you steal the money for?' Do you want to see it?'"
Borello opined that Bankman-Fried "cannot fit into the population of regulators" because of her perceived wealth, an estimate $26 billion at peak — while others will try again to extort him.
SBF didn't realize "how much trouble he was in"
Borrello recounted a conversation he had with Bankman-Fried, who apparently believed he “didn't have much time.”
"I just didn't understand how much trouble he was in," Borrello said. "We were trying to explain to him that it's the feds, who are accused of stealing billions of dollars. [...] “I just didn’t understand how screwed up I was until we started telling him.”
Borrello claimed Bankman-Fried was more nervous about prison than his case and believed he would spend 20 years in prison.
“We looked at him like he was crazy. I kept trying to explain to him 'you will never see the outside again'.
On November 2, Bankman-Fried was found guilty on seven charges of money laundering, fraud and conspiracy and faces a maximum sentence of 115 years in prison. His sentencing is scheduled for March 28 and his attorneys are expected to appeal.
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Borello also said he tried to warn Bankman-Fried that New York Judge Lewis Kaplan, who is overseeing her case, is the “strictest judge in the Southern District.”
In most cases, judges follow the prosecution's sentencing recommendation (yet to be presented in Bankman-Fried's case) “which could be out of this world,” Borrello said.
"I think it's silly to have so much time," he added. “There's no reason to give that guy a hundred years. “That’s just crazy.”
Borrello described the Bankman-Fried situation as "a case of glory" in which all prosecutors want to participate because they want to become "judges, politicians, analysts." [and] great federal lawyers.”
“The only thing they care about is glory. He is the case of glory. So he is screwed.”
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