Bernie Madoff is five months into his 150-year prison sentence and is adjusting to prison life. In fact, he's making friends and integrating into prison life.
Inmate No. 61727-054 shares an unlocked cell at the medium-security Butner Federal Correctional Complex with a younger man named Frank. He wears khaki prison garb and has been spotted walking on an outdoor track. He plays bocce, chess and checkers. He scrubs pots and pans in the prison kitchen.
The 71-year-old Mr. Madoff also is salvaging something that disappeared in the outside world the moment his fraud was exposed: respect. "To every con artist, he is the godfather, the don," says an inmate interviewed earlier this week.
Mr. Madoff has served about five months of a 150-year prison sentence for pulling off the largest Ponzi scheme ever. Losses suffered by Madoff customers are estimated at $19.4 billion.
"All things considered, he's OK," says Ira Sorkin, Mr. Madoff's lawyer. "He still suffers deeply for what he did."
WSJ's Dionne Searcey discusses Bernie Madoff's life in lockup. Take a look:
