NEW YORK (AP) — Victims of imprisoned financier Bernard Madoff’s mammoth Ponzi scheme can express views on whether he should be released early from prison, prosecutors said Friday.
Join our WhatsApp groupSubscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
The U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan announced that those who suffered financial losses in the scheme have until the end of February to submit emails to Judge Denny Chin through the prosecutor’s office.
“If you are a victim of Madoff’s crimes and you wish to provide your views to Judge Chin with respect to Madoff’s motion for a sentence reduction, you may do so,” prosecutors said.
Chin, who now sits on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, will decide whether to grant Madoff’s compassionate relief request to be released early from his 150-year prison sentence because of medical issues.
Madoff, 81, requested early release this week on grounds that he has terminal kidney disease and less than 18 months to live.
Madoff has been imprisoned since he pleaded guilty in early 2009 to defrauding thousands of clients of billions of dollars as he oversaw their accounts, sometimes for decades.
In his request for early release, his lawyer cited end-stage kidney disease and other “chronic, serious medical conditions,” including hypertension and cardiovascular disease.
Prosecutors have not yet responded in writing to the request by Madoff, who is housed at the federal prison in Butner, North Carolina, where he entered the palliative care unit of the facility in July.
The U.S. Bureau of Prisons has already denied Madoff’s request, concluding in December that his early release would “minimize the severity of his offense.”
The markets where tanking nk one was making money. Yet these fools invested in a dream it greed. And they want us to continue to bail them out. Sorry I have no compassion for them
His chances for an early release would be better had he done a violent crime.
Only invest what you can afford to lose. Bernie did nothing wrong. It’s the arrogant greedy gullible “investors” fault for being enablers. There is a total disconnect. The “haves” finally got caught with their pants down. Good for them. I hope they lose everything.
Lots of victim blaming going on here.
I don’t agree with those who essentially stated “good for them for losing their shirts, as they were greedy, and should have known better”. Many people not only make money on the stock market, but also lose money. Yes, Madoff should not have done what he was convicted of. However, he has paid dearly for his crimes. Both of his sons have died, his wife wants nothing to do with him, he has been publicly rebuked and shamed, and doesn’t have a pot to his name. Therefore, in the name of rachmonos and compassion, he should be given an early release, to live out his remaining days outside of prison.
I’m surprised Trump hasn’t yet pardoned him and appointed him to run the federal reserve.
They should release this saint at once! Once he pays back the money he borrowed, they should throw him a grand parade.
Dear Boroch, your words are very compelling. But, we really don’t know the full effect of what he did to people. How about those people who died before any money (if any money) was returned to them.
When a person invests its for the purpose of seeing their hard earned money grow. He appeaed to be a “honest” , successful business investor.
The tragedy of his family, is of his own making. He destroyed many families-as well as his own-but it was his behavior that caused all this destruction.
Here’s a question for my own knowledge: Not a Bernie Madoff situation: If a person does something awful and for years and years doesn’t make it right, no matter how many times he was asked to do so..on his deathbed, if he asks Mechila, is one supposed to grant Mechila?
No reason he needs to be released!