Sam Bankman-Fried might be eating a lot of rice, almonds, and Skittles drink mix if he wants to stay vegan in prison

Sam Bankman-Fried could be sent to a prison with limited vegan options, per The Wall Street Journal.
The judge at his sentencing hearing recommended he be sent to a low- or medium-security facility.
The disgraced FTX founder was handed a 25-year sentence on Thursday.

Sam Bankman-Fried might have trouble maintaining his vegan diet in prison.

The disgraced crypto entrepreneur could carry out his 25-year sentence at Mendota, a medium-security prison near Fresno, California, a prison consultant hired by his lawyers said.

There, he might have to opt for vegan items on the prison's commissary list such as rice, almonds, and Skittles drink mix, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Bankman-Fried was found guilty on seven counts, including fraud and conspiracy, by a jury in November.

US District Judge Lewis Kaplan, who imposed Bankman-Fried's 25-year sentence on Thursday, recommended he serve it in a low- or medium-security prison near his parents' home in San Francisco.

The judge said he'd factored Bankman-Fried's wealth and his autism diagnosis, which could make him a target in prison, into his recommendation, the Journal reported.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons will ultimately decide where the FTX founder winds up. Joel Sickler, a federal prison consultant, told the Journal that Bankman-Fried's safety could be at risk in a medium-security facility, where other inmates could be serving sentences for violent crimes.

Bankman-Fried would have more freedom to move around a low-security prison, such as Lompoc near Santa Barbara, where inmates can learn to crochet, according to the report.

Either way, food is likely to be an issue. Bill Baroni, a former New Jersey official convicted for his role in the Bridgegate scandal, told the Journal the only vegetables he ate in prison came from cans. "He's not going to a Just Salad," Baroni said. "He'll probably have to do a lot of peanut butter."

Bankman-Fried has been maintaining a vegan diet, mostly of beans and lettuce, according to a fellow inmate at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where the FTX founder has been held since August.

Carmine Simpson, a former NYPD officer who's being held at the jail with Bankman-Fried, wrote a letter to Judge Kaplan to plead for leniency on Bankman-Fried's behalf, BI previously reported.

"Even though twelve out of every fourteen of Sam's weekly meals are just undercooked rice, a scoop of disgusting-looking beans and week-old brown lettuce, Sam has stayed true to his commitment to not participate in the maltreatment of animals," Simpson wrote.

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