Madoff Lives Bottom-Bunk Life in Prison

Fallen financier Bernard Madoff has plunged from his Manhattan penthouse to the lower bunk of a cell he shares with a drug offender at a federal prison, where he eats pizza cooked by a child molester and hangs around with a mob boss and a convicted spy, according to legal papers filed Tuesday.

The snapshot of Madoff's prison life - and a contrasting picture of a former high-flying life laced with cocaine and salacious parties - are in a legal complaint filed by Burlingame, Calif.-based lawyer Joseph Cotchett, who represents about a dozen victims of Madoff's massive investment Ponzi scheme. Cotchett interviewed Madoff in July at the Butner Federal Correctional Complex near Raleigh, N.C.

The lawyer found the mastermind of one of history's largest financial frauds now reduced to nighttime walks around a prison track for fun, according to the new filing. It builds on one investor's existing civil case against various Madoff associates and financial institutions; the suit claims they were complicit in Madoff's fraud or should have stopped it. Madoff has consistently said he acted alone.

When not rubbing elbows with drug and sex offenders, Madoff spends time with Carmine Persico, a reputed Colombo crime family boss, and Jonathan Pollard, an American convicted of selling military secrets to Israel more than two decades ago, according to the lawsuit.

Madoff's lawyer, Ira Sorkin, declined to discuss his client's prison life or the lawsuit's allegations about shenanigans in his former office. Telephones for spokespeople for the Federal Bureau of Prisons rang unanswered Tuesday night; the agency's records do show Pollard and Persico are housed at Butner.

The lawsuit goes to length to compare Madoff's prison existence with his deluxe former life, including photos of his yacht and homes and claims that he ran an office rife with drug use and sexual escapades.

According to the allegations - their source isn't specified - Madoff deployed an employee and to get drugs from 1975 to 2003, fueling an office so cocaine-laden insiders dubbed it "the North Pole." Office parties featured topless waitresses, employee affairs were common and Madoff kept a list of his favorite pretty masseuses in his personal phone book, the lawsuit said, claiming investors' money helped pay for it all.

"Employees described it as a wild, fast-talking, drug-using office culture," said the complaint. It says its various allegations are based in part on interviews with other unnamed people besides Madoff.

Madoff, 71, is serving a 150-year sentence after pleading guilty in March to a scheme that authorities say cost thousands of investors at least $13 billion.

The lawsuit doesn't detail his talk with Cotchett. The lawyer previously said the one-time Nasdaq market chairman repeatedly apologized for the harm he caused victims.

[FlyByNitelight]

Someone asked: What good is punishment? It's a consequence of ill-spent talents and criminal behavior. I've read comments that say Madoff is a product of a society that condones or fosters lying and cheating; that would only be true if he hadn't been punished. I don't care if his buddies gave him the impression that what he was doing was just a smart short-cut to wealth...each of us is responsible for our own actions, I'm sick of people looking for scapegoats, and if you commit a crime you must be prepared to do the time.

His going to prison also stopped him from conning anybody else. I've wondered if there were any potential investors on the line who were about to use Madoff's services but were saved in the nick of time?

I can't feel any pity for him, I do feel very sorry for the folks who trusted him, and feel outrage for the regulatory body that allowed him to operate his "business" so long and didn't stop him much sooner.

[ronbo888]

why is it when rich people get ripped off the world stops turning but when rich people rip off the poor its all good buisness,ie payday advance companys and title loan places.legal loan sharking that preys on the poor.

[missme4]

"where he eats pizza cooked by a child molester"

Uhhhh, don't child molesters know how to make good pizza? What's the point?
And now Madoff is a cocaine user? Of course the source of info is not revealed. I guess they forgot to mention Madoff's wife is still a multi-millionaire and enjoying life of luxury. So, not all is lost. How much did it cost the government to pay C B S to have this article shoved down our throats? My guess is Madoff paid a look a like to do his prison time while while the real Madoff vacations in Thailand with a bunch of hot girls.

[sandy19731]

It's nice to know he isn't in a "country club" prison. That's why this is news.

[mrs_nuetron]

Well at his age I wouldnt expect him to be a top in there.

[stuart-johns2]

Madoff Lives Bottom-Bunk Life in Prison

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Madoff IS bottom-bunk, period.

[Treadlightly2]

So a mob boss has taken Bernie under his wing. Big surprise there. No doubt that he stashed millions before being taken into custody. Protection is not free. The payments are surely being handled by a third party. There anint no such thing as a free lunch takes on a whole new meaning in prison.

[Lawyers-Guns-n-Money-01]

Still consorting with the criminal element, eh Bernie?

[yermamma]

Consorting with the criminal element? He's in prison... his friends there are the criminal element.... that's why they're there.... Perhaps he can get a nice weekend pass to go somewhere to meet non-criminal friends. Christ there's a minute out of my life I'll never get back commenting on this ridiculous post.

[fedup12]

Would be(consorting with the criminal element) even if he was with his wife and kids. Who are still out living the large life minus a few homes and boats.

[taxpayingvoter]

unfortunately, in this society we develop 10 new ones for every one we remove. Until the true owners of this country" We the People" stop acting like sheep and retake what is ours we will always fall prey to these highly educated thieves. It is amazing that most of the CEO's and market thieves seem to have gone to Harvard University. Thief Central it seems to have turned into, a better thief through better education.

[babooph]

He is now with a higher grade of people than he was with on Wall St.

[briannorwood]

Madoff Lives Bottom-Bunk Life in Prison?

I hope his bottom gets bunked every night!

[stn_sage]

This is STILL far better than what he deserves!

He should be breaking rocks from dawn to dust!