Madoff’s lawyers want him freed pending sentencing
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If he stays in jail while awaiting sentencing, swindler Bernie Madoff can looking forward to breakfasts of oatmeal and a banana -- and the company of accused drug dealers, mobsters and terrorists.
But his lawyers are trying to persuade a federal court that the 70-year-old Madoff should be free until his June 16 sentencing.
From Bloomberg News:
Bernard Madoff’s lawyers, seeking to have the convicted money-manager released from a high-security prison before he’s sentenced in June, asked a federal appeals court set aside a judge’s order that he be jailed. Ira Sorkin, Madoff’s lawyer, filed an appeal Friday with the U.S. Court of Appeals in New York. The legal brief came a day after a lower-court judge ordered Madoff jailed after he pleaded guilty to masterminding the largest Ponzi scheme in history. ‘Since his arrest, Mr. Madoff has complied at all times with the extraordinarily restrictive bail conditions imposed upon him,’ Sorkin wrote in the 19-page brief. ‘He has not attempted to flee nor has he attempted to harm any individual or the community.’ The lawyer asked for an expedited ruling and renewed bail under the previous conditions. He argued that the lower-court judge applied the wrong legal standard for bail. The court scheduled arguments for March 19. Madoff won’t attend.
While incarcerated at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan, Madoff will be inmate number 61727-054. The facility, Bloomberg says, also houses accused drug dealers, mobsters and terrorists.
Asked to provide some examples from the prison menu, spokesman Scott Sussman said a typical breakfast is oatmeal and a banana. Lunch could be baked chicken and collard greens. Dinner options include spaghetti with meat sauce and spinach.
When he’s finally sentenced, Madoff faces a prison term of as long as 150 years.
-- Tom Petruno