Madoff Beaten in Prison (Assaulted by Another Inmate in December); Officials Deny Incident

[Amerigo Vespucci]

MARCH 18, 2010

Madoff Beaten in Prison
Ponzi Schemer Was Assaulted by Another Inmate in December; Officials Deny Incident

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704743404575128031143424928.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTWhatsNewsCollection

By DIONNE SEARCEY And AMIR EFRATI



The Butner federal prison in July. A man who served time with Bernard Madoff there says the financier gave him investment advice.

Bernard Madoff, who is serving a 150-year sentence in North Carolina for running a fraud scheme that cost investors billions of dollars, was physically assaulted by another inmate in December, according to three people familiar with the matter.

After the attack, Mr. Madoff, who pleaded guilty a year ago and was sent to a federal prison in Butner, N.C., was moved on Dec. 18 to the prison's low-security medical center for treatment. At the time, the Bureau of Prisons said that rumors of an assault were false and that Mr. Madoff suffered from dizziness and hypertension.

One of his lawyers, Ira Sorkin, added at the time that Mr. Madoff was experiencing high blood pressure and heart palpitations. Mr. Sorkin declined to comment Wednesday on whether his client was beaten, saying, "I don't comment on prison conditions or his family. That has been my policy."

Mr. Madoff was treated for a broken nose, fractured ribs and cuts to his head and face, according to a felon currently at Butner serving time on drug charges who was familiar with his condition at the time. The details of the injuries couldn't be independently verified.

Another inmate who recently was released from Butner after serving time on drug charges also confirmed the assault, as did a third person familiar with Mr. Madoff's situation.

The former inmate said the dispute centered on money the assailant thought he was owed by Mr. Madoff.

[TheCowsCameHome]

1. Life sucks these days, eh Bernie?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

2. I Think There Is A Larger Point

When the government incarcerates you they become responsible for your safety. Prisoners shouldn't be subject to assault or rape.

[martymar64]

3. People trying to invest shouldn't be subject to Ponzi schemes

Don't do the crime if you can't do the time. He knew what he was doing when he fleeced all those people.

I feel that the Chinese approach to swindlers and corrupt officials is much more effective. A bullet in the head.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

4. Of Course He Deserves To Be Punished

But I don't think Madoff or any other prisoner should be subject to "extra-constitutional" punishment like assault or rape which happens much more frequently.

Oh, I don't support the death penalty...

[T Wolf]

5. Doesn't what this POS (Madoff) did really qualify as a "crime against humanity" by

virtue (strange use of that word) of the extent of damage he caused?

And as such, shouldn't he be punished much more severely than the relative slap-on-the-wrist that this prison term will?

He and his family (who greatly benefited and continue to reap the benefits) should be totally destroyed just like he and they did to so many.

Without that, there is no justice.

[Trillo]

8. Perhaps you'd like him to have a thousand lives to be slain

instead of just one? Yeah, get his family too. Why not extended family members, cousins and nephews? Hey, Why not include the kids he went to school with, as well? Destroy 'em all?

If these reports are true, it seems to me like cruel and unusual punishment.

[Coventina]

6. Prisons have the responsibility to keep prisoners safe.

Having said that, I'm not crying any tears....

[sea four]

7. Why is it only Madoff in jail?

Madoff's crime was that he stole from the rich. But Goldman Sachs and Citigroup and other banks stole much more from the American middle class, and they still are doing that, but they don't get punished.

[progressoid]

9. "Madoff's crime was that he stole from the rich"

That pretty much sums it up.

[JBoy]

10. Somebody got wise to his cigarette Ponzi scheme.