Inside the California medium-security prisons where FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried may live out his crypto fraud sentence as he's jailed this week

As Sam Bankman-Fried awaits his sentence, speculation has spiraled around how many years the former FTX CEO will be incarcerated - and where he will be jailed.

Prosecutors from the Southern District of New York are asking for Bankman-Fried to get 40 to 50 years behind bars - but the defense is requesting a much lower range of just over six and half years.

Experts generally believe that he will serve at least twenty years on the low end and 50 years on the high end - and that he is likely to end up in a medium security jail.

Christopher Zoukis, an federal prisons expert, told DailyMail.com he believes Bankman-Fried will likely be sent to a West Coast jail, like FCI Herlong or Mendota. 

Zoukis serves as the managing director of the Zoukis Consulting Group, a firm that, among other things, prepares soon-to-be federal inmates by educating them about life in federal prison. 

Former FTX Chief Executive Sam Bankman-Fried (pictured)  who faces fraud charges over the collapse of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange, walks outside the Manhattan federal court

Pictured: FCI Herlong in California, which could where Bankman-Fried is sentenced to live out his coming years. One of Herlong's most notable inmates, rapper B.G., was released from the prison last year after serving 12 years of his 14-year sentence

The consultancy has clients in minimum security prisons, all the way up to ADX Florence in Colorado, a supermax facility housing some of the nation's most notorious criminals.

Zoukis explained that the Federal Bureau of Prisons applies a security point value to prisoners that in part determines which kind of prison they'll be housed in.

The sentence length also greatly informs where a convict will end up. 

Generally, public safety factor guidelines stipulate that if someone has 10 or more years left to serve, they need to end up in a low security facility. More than twenty years demands at least a medium-security designation, while more than 30 years requires at least a high security placement.

In Bankman-Fried's case, the Bureau of Prisons could apply a public safety factor waiver - something Zoukis explained also happened for Bernie Madoff. This allowed Madoff, despite his 150-year sentence, to serve his time in a medium security prison instead of a high security one.

With that possibility on the table, Zoukis said that even with a sentence of over 30 years, Bankman-Fried is likely to land at a medium security prison just like Madoff.

Christopher Zoukis is the managing director of Zoukis Consulting Group, which advises attorneys and incarcerated clients on the inner workings of the federal prison system

Pictured: Federal Correctional Institution Mendota, where Bankman-Fried could end up, according to Zoukis

Federal Correctional Institution Herlong, another possible destination for Bankman-Fried

'The only the only risk here is...if he goes to medium, which medium security prison? So you have very good mediums and very bad mediums,' Zoukis told DailyMail.com. 

He added that he doesn't think Bankman-Fried will end up at a 'bad medium' like FCI Victorville in California.

'In cases like these that are very visible, I think [the Bureau of Prisons is] really cautious about where they put people because they don't want to have a negative public impression of like him getting attacked,' Zoukis said.

Ultimately, if Bankman-Fried is deemed a medium security prisoner, Zoukis said he may end up at FCI Herlong or FCI Mendota, both in California. 

Herlong houses 1,391 inmates, while Mendota holds a fewer 950, according to the Bureau of Prisons. 

Both medium security prison options are in the same state as where Bankman-Fried's parents' reside. They live in a home in the San Francisco Bay Area. 

One of Herlong's most notable inmates, rapper B.G., was released from the prison last year after serving 12 years of his 14-year sentence, the Rolling Stone reported. 

Sam Bankman-Fried, the jailed founder of bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, is sworn in as he appears in court for the first time since his November fraud conviction

Herlong also used to have a decent reputation as a humane prison - but has since backslid into an unsafe place for sex offenders, LGBTQ individuals and informants, according to Puck News.

As for Mendota, in January 2023, the EPA launched an investigation into its alleged improper storage of hazardous materials, as reported by the Fresno Bee. 

The federal prison also made headlines last year after a 34-year-old inmate died at Mendota in December.

And in June 2023, a manhunt was launched after a missing 42-year-old inmate walked out from the FCI Mendota satellite camp. 

Medium security prisons are known for having strengthened perimeters and have a high staff-to-inmate ratio. The prisons are often very crowded, with small cells and steel bunk beds bolted to the walls. 

At FCI Mendota, inmates live in two-person cells, and prisoners have access to the library - as well as having a commissary to buy snacks, ice cream, and electronics. 

Aaron McGlothin, union president at the Federal Correctional Institution at Mendota, stands in front of the prison - which could be a destination for Bankman-Fried 

Herlong (pictured) houses 1,391 inmates, while Mendota holds a fewer 950, according to the Bureau of Prisons

Sam Enzer is a former attorney from the SDNY, the office prosecuting Bankman-Fried

Inmates at the California jail can play softball, soccer, football, tennis, as well as enjoy the gym where exercise classes include spin, yoga, and aerobics. 

People incarcerated at FCI Herlong live in two or three person cells. Inmates can use the jail gym, which has a basketball court and multiple workout machines.

They can also enjoy workout courses, music classes, art and craft programs while serving their prison sentences at Herlong. 

Another prediction about Bankman-Fried's the length of Bankman-Fried's prison sentence came from Sam Enzer, a former SDNY attorney and chair of Cahill Gordon's cryptocurrency and fintech group. 

He told the Unchained podcast that he expects 'a sentence north of 20 years.'