Convicted con artist Bernie Madoff is on his way to a federal penetentiary to start serving out his 150 year sentence for defrauding thousands of investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars. Bernie didn't end up in the jail he asked for, though.
He had requested the Federal Correctional Institution in Otisville, N.Y. U.S. District Judge Denny Chin, who handled Mr. Madoff's criminal case in Manhattan, indicated he would recommend that the Ponzi-scheme operator serve his time in the Northeast.
Butner includes two medium-security prisons, a low-security prison, medical facility and satellite prison camp for minimum-security male inmates.
As of Monday evening, Mr. Madoff was en route to Butner but hadn't arrived, said a person familiar with the situation. Scott Sussman, a spokesman for the federal Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan, said Mr. Madoff left that jail Monday morning. Mr. Sussman declined to comment on where Mr. Madoff was being transported.
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Inmates at Butner include Adelphia Communications founder John Rigas and his son Timothy, both found guilty in 2004 of securities fraud. The Rigases are being held in the low-security prison, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. John Rigas, 84, is scheduled to be released in 2018, and Timothy Rigas, 53, in 2022.
Other potential new friends for Bernie include convicted swindler Al Parish, a former economist at Charleston Southern University who ran a $66 million Ponzi scheme, and former Rite Aid Corp. Vice Chairman Franklin C. Brown who is currently serving a ten years sentence at Butner, a medium-security facility.
