» For comparison’s sake, Bernie Madoff got 150 years. Stanford, who was convicted of 13 of 14 fraud counts in March, lived a lavish life, and was at one point personally worth $2 billion. (His scheme, half the size of Madoff’s, was nonetheless massive.) But his assets were frozen and he was so broke that he had to rely on court-appointed lawyers. Said lawyers have no sense of gravity, apparently — they seriously thought he’d get jailed for less than four years? Perhaps, though, it was Stanford himself who screwed up his chances, telling the judge this on Thursday: “I’m not here to ask for sympathy or forgiveness or to throw myself at your mercy. I did not run a Ponzi scheme. I didn’t defraud anybody.” He spoke for 40 minutes. He claimed the U.S. used “gestapo tactics” on him. In return, he got a huge sentence.
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“It was very, very impulsive”: According to the wife of disgraced, convicted former billionaire Bernie Madoff, the pair attempted to kill themselves about two weeks following Bernie’s confession that he’d been running a massive Ponzi scheme. They both took what they believed would be an overdose of pills before retiring to bed, only to both awake groggy but alive the next day. Ruth Madoff says the pair never again discussed suicide, adding “But I have no idea why he didn’t — I don’t know how he lives with it all.” source
I would question whether they’d grant him a furlough because of heightened publicity. He could be a target. He could be shot.Federal Prisons Consultants managing director Ed Bales • On Bernie Madoff’s chances of being allowed to go to his son’s funeral. Madoff has two things against him here: A handbook that generally only allows furloughs for prisoners with two years or less in their terms, and (since that’s usually waived for white-collar criminals) a level of notoriety that would probably mean an appearance like that would endanger his safety. On a side note, this story is from the New York Post, which used an “end of his rope” pun to explain Mark Madoff’s death on its front page recently. We’re sure they’ve hit lower depths, but we can’t remember when. source (via • follow)
Three words: Bernard Madoff’s undies, last in the public eye when he crapped his pants after finally getting caught about two years ago. source
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