San Francisco & Silicon Valley
Federal Prison Consultant in San Francisco
Facing federal charges in the Northern District of California? Get expert guidance from someone who has worked with tech industry executives, cryptocurrency defendants, and high-profile Silicon Valley cases.
Experience with High-Profile Tech Cases
Sam has worked with clients involved in some of the most significant cryptocurrency and tech industry prosecutions. This includes experience with FTX-related matters and other complex digital asset cases that have become increasingly common in the Northern District of California.
Why Silicon Valley Cases Are Different
The Northern District of California has become a center of federal technology and cryptocurrency prosecutions. Cases here often involve:
- • Tech industry executives and founders
- • Cryptocurrency and blockchain-related crimes
- • Securities fraud and venture capital cases
- • Intellectual property theft prosecutions
- • Complex financial technology crimes
Relevant Federal Courts
- Northern District of California (NDCA)
- U.S. District Court - San Francisco
- U.S. District Court - San Jose
- U.S. District Court - Oakland
Sam has experience with cases from all major Northern California federal courts.
Federal Facilities Near San Francisco
The Bay Area's own facility, FCI Dublin, holds women only. A man sentenced in the Northern District of California who scores into camp range is leaving the region: the nearest camps are Mendota, about 165 miles southeast, Herlong, about 200 miles northeast, and Lompoc, about 260 miles south. For a woman, Dublin is the local option, but it is a low-security FCI, not a camp, and it carries its own history worth knowing before a family relies on it.
Security level and gender below come from the Bureau of Prisons' own facility directory. Camp populations are BOP's per-facility counts for July 30, 2026, the same figures used on the complete camp list. Distances are routed by road from downtown San Francisco and run longer in traffic.
| Facility | Security level | Holds | Approx. drive from SF | Camp? | Pop. 7/30/26 | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FCI Dublin | Low | Women | About 35 miles, roughly 45 minutes | No | Not shown, see note | No record |
| Camp at FCI Mendota | Minimum (satellite camp) | Men | About 165 miles, roughly 3 hours | Yes | 122 | Facility profile |
| FCI Mendota | Medium | Men | About 165 miles, roughly 3 hours | No | Not shown, see note | No record |
| Camp at FCI Lompoc II | Minimum (satellite camp) | Men | About 260 miles, roughly 4.5 hours | Yes | 205 | Facility profile |
| Camp at FCI Herlong | Minimum (satellite camp) | Men | About 200 miles, roughly 3.5 hours | Yes | 79 | Facility profile |
| FCI Herlong | Medium | Men | About 200 miles, roughly 3.5 hours | No | Not shown, see note | No record |
FCI Dublin closed in 2024 after federal investigations into staff sexual abuse and was later reopened. Anyone relying on this page for a Dublin placement should verify current operating status directly with BOP before making decisions around it, not from a search result.
What designation to one of these actually depends on
The judge doesn't decide this. The Bureau of Prisons does, through the Designation and Sentence Computation Center in Grand Prairie, Texas, and a judge's recommendation is one administrative factor the DSCC weighs rather than an instruction it has to follow.
What drives the outcome is a number. BOP staff score the case on the form in Program Statement 5100.08, and for men the bands are tight: 0 to 11 points is minimum security, which is camp. 12 to 15 is low. 16 to 23 is medium. For women the bands run 0 to 15 for minimum and 16 to 30 for low. Points come from the severity of the offense, the criminal history score, age, and any detainer that's been lodged. A detainer alone is worth 1 to 7 points depending on what's behind it, which is enough on its own to move someone out of camp range. Public Safety Factors sit on top of the score and can push placement higher regardless of the total.
Then come the things that have nothing to do with points. Medical care level has to match what the institution can actually provide. Program needs matter, so RDAP eligibility can pull someone toward a facility that runs the program. Bed space is real and it moves people. And the BOP works from the release residence, not the courthouse, when it applies the 500-driving-mile standard from 18 U.S.C. 3621(b).
What Sam does about it
Sam Mangel advocates for a placement. He doesn't control one, and anyone who tells you they can guarantee a facility is selling something they can't deliver.
The work is upstream and unglamorous. Getting the presentence report right, because errors in it feed straight into the point score and are far harder to fix after sentencing. Documenting medical and programming needs in a form the DSCC recognizes. Building the record for a judicial recommendation before sentencing rather than after. For tech and crypto cases specifically, that often means translating a complex financial fact pattern into terms the DSCC's scoring actually recognizes.
Sometimes the honest answer is that the score puts someone at a low, and no amount of advocacy makes it a camp. Better to hear that early, especially with every Northern California camp several hours from the Bay.
Facility DesignationSources: BOP, Designations, Program Statement 5100.08, Inmate Security Designation and Custody Classification, and BOP's population report dated July 30, 2026. Related reading: federal prison camps, the self-surrender timeline, and the presentence investigation.
Services for Bay Area Clients
Federal cases in other districts
Designation works the same way everywhere, but the facilities within driving range of a family do not. These pages carry the same facility tables and drive times for other districts, and the complete camp list covers all 67 nationally.
Facing Federal Charges in the Bay Area?
The sooner you begin preparation, the better positioned you'll be. Schedule a confidential consultation today.