‘Keep your head down’: SBF prison counselor advises Carolyn Ellison

When Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research, reports to the prison for more than a month, the atmosphere will be very different from the luxury apartments. Bahamas She and others call FTX founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried home.

But there are steps Ellison can take to better navigate the “black hole” of inconsistency and ruthlessness when she enters the prisons' orbit, said Sam Mangel, a White Collar prison consultant who advises the former. FTX head.

“Being a small fish in a big sea is very important,” he said Decrypt In an interview. “Find out what you need to do to get out of jail as soon as possible.”

U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan sentenced Ellison to two years in prison on Tuesday, after the Bureau of Prisons recommended that she be placed in a low-security facility near her family in Boston, Massachusetts. Although it was a three-hour drive from the Bay State capital, Mangle recommended Ellison look for the Danbury Women's Camp in Connecticut.

“It's the best women's camp on the East Coast,” said Mangle, who says a handful of his clients have served at the minimum-security facility. Housing more than 100 prisoners.

Compared to the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn, New York since his stay at Bankman-Fried Warranty voided. Mangel said last year's Danbury girls camp had excellent facilities. Still, he heard from other clients at MDC's so-called protective custody unit, Banman-Fried was doing relatively well isolated from the general population. [or] It has been stolen.

Bankuman-Fried's 25-year prison sentence is longer than Ellison's, serving as a key witness in his case. She pleaded guilty to a series of money laundering and fraud charges in 2022 in connection with the government's mismanagement of the defunct crypto exchange.

At the time of her conviction, Ellison ordered Kaplan to forfeit $11 billion. Banman-Fried, who started dating Ellison earlier this month, has filed an appeal, saying he is.Presumed guiltyHe said.

Mangel said Ellison could serve the full two years in prison before being released on supervision. According to the elementary rules, Ellison can earn credits for taking classes and other productive activities. As those credits erode, Mangel said, she could be eligible for house arrest or a halfway house after nine months.

“Keep your head down, understand that the workers are not your friends. He is a typical government employee. […] It makes less than you make in one day in a year.

Mangel became a prison counselor in 2020 after serving 20 months at a prison camp in Miami. While his “boutique practice” works with other crypto clients, his most famous patron may be former President Donald Trump. Former economic advisor Peter Navarro.

One of the most important things for Ellison is to “keep her nose clean,” said Larry Levin, founder of Wall Street Prison Advisors and Prison Rose Lady Advisors.

Levin echoed Mangle's advice and suggested that Ellison participate in work programs. Regardless, he said she will get time off her sentence for good behavior, but she could be released on supervised release in a year as long as she “does little work that they give her.”

Levine Ellison, who spent 10 years in prison for “drug trafficking, bail fraud, robbery, obstruction of justice and machine guns,” said he won't be serving that much time. For this reason, there are many reasons.

“Don't get caught up in drama, don't get caught up in politics,” he said. “Don't rat on anyone for any reason. No one respects a slanderer.

As for Bankman-Fried and Ellison, Mangle said both can use their knowledge of crypto as teachers, sharing their knowledge with other inmates to earn extra time credits. Many probably have no knowledge of crypto beyond what they've seen on television, he added.

“Prisoners in the camp, when a higher-up came in, he would put them on the pedestal and shame them,” Mangel said. “They are jealous and jealous, and they want to live cruelly on that person's side.

Edited by Andrew Hayward.