There is no possibility of parole in federal criminal cases, but Bankman-Fried can still reduce his 25-year prison sentence if he behaves well.
“SBF could serve as little as 12.5 years if he gets all the incarceration credits he has,” Mitchell Epner, a former federal prosecutor, told CNN.
Federal prisoners can typically earn up to 54 days of time credit per year for good behavior, which could result in a reduction of about 15 percent.
However, since 2018, non-violent federal inmates can reduce their sentences by up to 50% under prison reform legislation known as the First Step Act.
Epner says the First Step Act was introduced as a civil rights measure, intended to help minority offenders who committed nonviolent drug trafficking offenses.
“This has proven to be a huge boon for white-collar crime defendants, who already receive much lower sentences … than drug traffickers,” Epner added.
There is also a provision that allows a court to reduce a person’s sentence for extraordinary and compelling reasons, often medical, according to Jordan Estes, a former federal prosecutor who is now a partner at Kramer Levin.
“Since the pandemic, courts have been more willing to grant early release under this provision if the defendant has served a substantial portion of their sentence,” Estes said.