Sam Bankman-Fried Said to Agree to Be Extradited to the US

The extradition will set up months of courtroom maneuvering in the United States. And it will be the end of a peculiar legal drama that has unfolded in the Bahamas in the week since Mr. Bankman-Fried’s arrest.

At an initial hearing last week, Mr. Bankman-Fried said he would not waive his right to contest the extradition. He was denied bail, and then moved from a police holding cell to the Caribbean island nation’s notorious Fox Hill prison, which has been widely criticized for its poor living conditions — so much so that locals call it “Fox Hell.”

Mr. Bankman-Fried was expected to reverse his position on extradition when he appeared in Magistrate Court again on Monday morning. Wearing a navy blue suit and a white shirt unbuttoned at the cuff, he slumped in his seat, with his head down and his leg shaking.

Soon the proceedings were thrown into turmoil.

“Whatever trail got him here this morning, it did not involve me,” Mr. Roberts told the judge in front of a packed courtroom. He said Mr. Bankman-Fried’s court appearance had happened “prematurely” and without his involvement. The hearing was adjourned so Mr. Roberts could speak privately with Mr. Bankman-Fried.

When the hearing resumed, the confusion only intensified. Mr. Roberts said Mr. Bankman-Fried wanted to make a decision on extradition but needed “a bit more information.” He also said Mr. Bankman-Fried needed time to speak with his lawyers in the United States.

A prosecutor representing the Bahamian government, Franklyn Williams, accused Mr. Roberts of wasting the court’s time. Amid the uncertainty, the judge ordered Mr. Bankman-Fried to be returned to prison, where he is being held in a medical unit with four other inmates.

By the afternoon, however, Mr. Roberts had changed tack. He convened a few reporters for a meeting at Arawak Cay, an area of Nassau known for its restaurants, picking an oceanside spot with palm trees and cruise ships in the background.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/19/business/sam-bankman-fried-extradition.html