Sam Bankman-Fried needs to be given his depression and ADHD medications behind bars, a Manhattan federal judge ruled Monday — after the disgraced FTX founder was jailed last week for allegedly leaking the writings of his former lover.
Manhattan federal Judge Lewis Kaplan issued the order following a request by Bankman-Fried’s defense attorney that the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn give the accused crypto crook “uninterrupted access to his daily prescribed medications.”
Bankman-Fried, 31, has been taking Adderall for his attention deficit hyperactivity disorder for the past three years, and has been wearing an Emsam patch for over five years for his depression, his attorney said in the letter, filed in Manhattan federal court earlier Monday.
But Bankman-Fried was only able to take a small supply of the meds with him when he was locked up Friday after federal prosecutors alleged he essentially committed witness tampering by giving the New York Times the personal writings of Caroline Ellison — his former flame and an admitted fraudster who is expected to be a star witness against him.
Judge Lewis Kaplan sided with the feds and ordered Bankman-Fried be held without bail until his Oct. 2 trial allegedly misused billions in FTX customer funds.
“Without these medications, Mr. Bankman-Fried will experience a return of his depression and ADHD symptoms, which will severely impact his ability to assist in his own defense,” Bankman-Fried’s psychiatrist since 2019 has said, his attorneys wrote.
The MDC — where Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell were once housed — has come under fire for allegedly deplorable conditions, including severe under staffing, maggot-infested food, dirty cells and power outages.
Bankman-Fried is accused of misusing billions in FTX customer funds to live large and back risky bets at his FTX-linked hedge fund Alameda Research before the cryptocurrency exchange went under last year.
He has pleaded not guilty and was on house arrest at his parents’ Palo Alto, Calif. mansion on a $250 million bond before Kaplan threw him behind bars.
The former billionaire’s lawyers have filed a notice of appeal of the order locking him up.
Prosecutors on Monday filed a new version of the indictment against Bankman-Fried that includes just seven of the 12 charges he faced, since five of the charges are in limbo and are set for a separate trial next year.
The charges under question include five that the feds added to the indictment after Bankman-Fried was extradited from the island county.
Those charges, including foreign bribery, bank fraud and conspiracy, must be greenlit by the Caribbean nation in order for prosecutors to pursue them at trial because of the extradition treaty the two countries have with each other.
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