SBF in the eyes of his cellmates: under suicide surveillance, timid and rich, and easy to blackmail

Author: Jesse Coghlan

Compiler: Frank, Foresight News

During his pretrial detention at the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) feared for his own safety and even considered paying “protection money” to another inmate, according to a former inmate.

New York mob turned-Gene Borrello said in an interview with crypto blogger Tiffany Fong on Nov. 30 that he had spent some time in prison with SBF, saying that SBF was on suicide surveillance, blackmailed, and had not eaten or showered for days, was “uncomfortable” in prison, and feared for his safety.

Gene Borrello said that while serving his sentence at SBF, other inmates considered the former crypto tycoon to be timid and fearful, resembling an “80-year-old man” and presumed to be rich.

“He’s like an 80-year-old man with no muscles, do you know what I mean?”

According to Gene Borrello, one inmate tried to intimidate SBF in order to extort protection money from him, while another wanted SBF to feel like “it’s dangerous here, you need protection.”

But SBF is being held in a unit at the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center, which separates the wealthy, government partners, and ordinary prisoners.

“I’ve been saying: it’s not dangerous here, you don’t need extra protection. Don’t worry, you don’t have to give anyone money. Don’t listen to these fucking bastards.”

Gene Borrello alleges that he had an altercation with another prisoner and a fight that resulted in both being placed in solitary confinement in a special cell in the prison, where Gene Borrello remained for 80 days.

A prison accident report states that Gene Borrello twice assaulted an inmate named Kevin Cruz, and both were taken to solitary confinement.

Gene Borrello recalls a conversation with SBF, stating that “when he talks to you, he puts his head down, appears timid, and speaks nervously”.

He also asked the former billionaire what he was spending his money on: “What did you do with the money? What kind of watch do you have?” SBF said, “I have an Apple Watch.”

Gene Borrello continued, “What car are you driving?” to which SBF replied, “A 2020 Toyota Camry.”

Gene Borrello wondered, “I said to my friends, why the are you stealing money? Do you just want to see the money?”

Gene Borrello argues that SBF “can’t get into the rest of the crowd of prisoners” because he’s considered rich (estimated at $26 billion at its peak), so others will try to blackmail him again.

SBF doesn’t seem to realize how much trouble he’s “in” in, Gene Borrello recalls his conversation with SBF, ** SBF apparently thinks he’s “not going to be sentenced for a long time”. **

“He just didn’t understand how much trouble he was in,” said Gene Borrello, “and we tried to explain to him, this is the federal government, you’re accused of stealing billions of dollars, and it wasn’t until we started explaining to him that SBF understood how bad our situation was.”

Gene Borrello said that SBF is more worried about prison than about his own case, and he thinks he will spend 20 years in prison**, “We looked at him as if he was crazy, and I kept trying to explain to him that you can never see the outside world again” (Note: On November 2, SBF was convicted of seven counts of money laundering, fraud and conspiracy and faces up to 115 years in prison, his sentence is scheduled for March 28, and his lawyer is expected to appeal).

Gene Borrello also said he had tried to warn SBF that the New York judge in charge of his case, Lewis Kaplan, was “the toughest judge in the entire Southern District of New York.”

In most cases, the judge will follow the prosecution’s sentencing recommendation, but the prosecution has not yet submitted a sentencing recommendation in the SBF case, “which is a very outrageous thing,” Gene Borrello said.

“I think it’s nonsense to sentence that long”, he added, “there’s no reason for that guy to be sentenced to 100 years, it’s just crazy”.

Gene Borrello called the SBF case a “glorious case” that every prosecutor wants to be a part of because they want to be “judges, politicians, analysts, and first-class federal prosecutors.”

“They only care about their reputation, and the SBF case is a glorious case, so he’s done.” **