Legal News

Madoff in the Prison Hospital

By Dionne Searcey

UPDATE: Dizziness and hypertension sent Madoff to the prison hospital, the Bureau of Prisons says. Ira Sorkin, Madoff’s lawyer, says his client experienced heart palpitations and high blood pressure and expects him to return to the medium security facility eventually.

Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff, who is serving a 150-year sentence in a federal prison in Butner, N.C., is now housed in a low-security medical center at the prison, according to the Bureau of Prisons. It’s unclear why the 71-year-old was moved there from a medium-security facility and what ailment he may be suffering. We wrote about the move in today's WSJ.

Mr. Madoff, who pleaded guilty earlier this year to masterminding a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme, has been at the Butner prison complex since July. Neither the Bureau of Prisons nor Ira Sorkin, his lawyer, would comment.

A spokeswoman for the Butner facility said Mr. Madoff was moved to the hospital on Dec. 18 but declined to say what necessitated the move.

Mr. Madoff had been at Butner's medium-security facility and seemed to be doing just fine there. The other inmates seemed to respect him and he carried on like he'd been there for years, his fellow inmates told us.

“To every con artist, he is the godfather, the don,” said one inmate.

The medical facility at Butner was built in 2000 and treated patients suffering from medical and mental health problems, according to a former employee. As of Thursday its population was 946 prisoner-patients, the Bureau of Prisons website said.

Prisoners are transferred there for problems that require extended supervision, though the ailments could be minor. About half of the patients a year ago suffered from mental health issues, the former employee said.

According to the 2008-2010 edition of the Federal Prison Guidebook, cancer treatment is one of the facility’s specialties.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on December 24, 2009 (boomark / email).