According to Protos, some Binance fans shared their expectations on the X platform that Binance founder Zhao Changpeng plans to complete his sentence on August 30. However, fact checking shows that he will not actually be released on this date.
Back on April 30, U.S. District Judge Richard Jones sentenced Zhao Changpeng to four months in a Seattle jail and recommended that he be sent to the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Prison (Seatac). This decision initially led to widespread speculation that if Zhao Changpeng was imprisoned immediately, August 30 should have been his release date. However, Zhao Changpeng's legal team actively intervened to gain more free time for him. Their efforts delayed Zhao Changpeng's imprisonment until late May, and he was not sent to Seatac as originally planned, but was transferred to FCI Lompoc II, a low-security federal prison three hours north of Los Angeles.
Currently, according to the verification of the prison administration database, Zhao Changpeng is indeed in FCI Lompoc II. As for his exact release date, unless something unexpected happens, it has been confirmed to be September 29, instead of the previously widely circulated August 30.
Some Binance fans on X (formerly Twitter) shared their excitement that the exchange’s founder, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), is set to complete his prison sentence on August 30. Unfortunately for them and CZ, a quick fact-check revealed that he will not actually be released before that date.
On April 30, U.S. District Judge Richard Jones sentenced CZ to four months in a Seattle jail and recommended him to prison and the Executive Security Federal Detention Center Seattle-Tucker.
Many observers seemed to assume that CZ had entered the Seattle airport that day, and therefore his release date was indeed August 30. However, CZ’s attorneys (from the well-known law firms Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, Davis Wright Tremaine, and Latham & Watkins) worked hard to ensure that he would receive a few extra weeks of freedom.
As of May 16, CZ had not yet entered the Bureau of Prisons’ holding facility, and it was not until several days later that CZ, his attorney, and the Office of Probation and Pretrial Services set a jail date in late May.
A current check of the Bureau of Prisons database also shows that CZ is not at the Seattle airport but is being held at Federal Correctional Institution II in Lompoc, a low-security federal prison three hours north of Los Angeles.
When will CZ be released from prison?
Unless CZ’s situation changes, he will not be leaving FCI Lompoc II on August 30. Instead, his current release date is set for September 29.
As Protos reported last month, the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees due process to everyone in the country, including noncitizens like CZ. This array of safeguards encompasses all of the unique features of CZ’s sentence, including the fact that he was jailed nearly a month after being sentenced, that he is in a low-security prison, that he is not serving his sentence at Seattle International Airport, and delays during earlier court proceedings.
