Prisoners at the prison where disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried will be held during his trial were previously held in power-restricted freezers for a week.
The Metropolitan Detention Center houses more than 1,600 inmates and is located on the waterfront in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.
In addition to new inmate Bankman-Fried, the prison had previously held prominent individuals including R. Kelly, Ghislaine Maxwell, and Martin Shkreli.
Other inmates have been linked to high-profile drug trafficking and terrorism cases, while others are relatively anonymous New Yorkers awaiting trial.
In 2019, the prison made headlines after inmates were left without heating or power for days during a cold snap.
The crisis peaked on Saturday when protesters gathered outside the Metropolitan Detention Center (above on file photo) in the industrial section on the waterfront of Sunset Park
Some of the more than 1,600 inmates inside the prison suffered freezing temperatures and darkness, pictured here are protesters outside the prison
In February 2019, a fire cut power and heat to parts of the prison and inmates suffered in freezing temperatures and darkness after the sun went down.
Prison inmates at the time included Nxivm sex cult leader Keith Raniere and accused mastermind of jewel thief Damir Pejcinovic, as well as MS-13 gang members and mafiosos.
Deirdre von Dornum, who oversees the Federal Defenders’ Brooklyn squad, said at the time that inmates had wrapped themselves “from head to toe in towels and blankets.”
The crisis came to a head with protesters gathering outside the facility, where inmates beat the prison walls and night lights flashed in a plea for help.
The latest inmate, disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, was sent to prison on Friday after his $250 million bail was revoked.
Bankman-Fried’s lawyers previously insisted that he should not be jailed and argued that he was trying to protect his reputation.
Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried arrives for a bail hearing at Manhattan Federal Court on August 11, 2023
Sam Bankman-Fried is escorted to jail by court officials in this courtroom sketch
He faces a slew of criminal charges related to the collapse of his cryptocurrency exchange FTX in November.
He allegedly misused billions of dollars from investors for lavish gifts and political donations before losing shareholders their fortunes.
Former inmate R Kelly had his lawyers sue the prison after claiming they placed him on suicide watch as punishment.
In July 2022, after being sentenced to 30 years in prison for sex trafficking and abusing young girls, his lawyer said officers had violated his rights.
Jennifer Bonjean said Kelly was in “good shape” after being held in jail, but she believed he was put on suicide watch for “punitive reasons.”
In this file photo taken Sept. 16, 2019, singer R. Kelly turns to leave after appearing at a hearing at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse in Chicago, Illinois
In this Cook County Sheriff’s Office handout, R. Kelly poses for a mugshot photo after being arrested for $161,663 in unpaid child support
Former prison director Cameron Lindsay previously told the New York Times, “The MDC was one of the most troubled, if not the most troubled facility in the Bureau of Prisons.”
Ghislaine Maxwell was held at the facility in 2021 and while behind bars her lawyers complained that she was malnourished, lost her hair, was fed meals with plastic melted in them, had to drink contaminated water and could smell overflowing toilets.
In a letter seen by Insiderwrote her attorney Bobbi C. Sternheim, “Cockroaches and rodents abound, and glue trails have been put in Mrs. Maxwell’s day care center to fix the problem.”
Maxwell has since been transferred to a facility in Tallahassee, Florida, after being sentenced last June.
Ghislaine Maxwell was held in the facility in 2021 and while behind bars her lawyers complained that she was malnourished
The Insider also reported that lawyers often wait for hours to see their clients who are in jail.
After boasting that he would spend less than a year in a ‘Club Fed’ prison, authorities detained Martin Shkreli in MDC to await trial.
Shkreli, the former owner of Vyera Pharmaceuticals, was convicted in 2018 of lying to investors about two hedge funds he managed and monetizing money owed to him.
His lawyer said at the time: ‘It is not a rehabilitation center. There is no education there, there are no lessons there.
Martin Shkreli, pictured here, pauses during a conversation with members of the media on August 4, 2017
‘The worst thing is that there is no real outdoor space. It’s just a place to store people.’
A June 2016 report from the National Association of Women Judges found conditions in the female wing to be “unscrupulous.”
The report said: ‘The absence of fresh, clean air, the complete absence of sunlight and the absence of ANY outdoor time and activities are immediate problems that BOP has not addressed in a meaningful way.’