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Where's the Bone for Bernie Madoff?

By Jeralyn, Section Crime in the News
Posted on Wed Mar 11, 2009 at 09:45:00 AM EST
Tags: Bernard Madoff (all tags)
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Yesterday I wrote about the details of the Bernard Madoff non-plea agreement in which he pleads straight up to all 11 counts against him and receives no sentencing concession, no promises about non-prosecution of family members and no agreement that the Government's continuing investigation won't affect his wife and other family members' assets.

He's 70 years old. Even if he gets a 25 year sentence with good time, he's likely to die in prison. He's not going to a minimum security camp. So why is he pleading guilty? Are there secret agreements we don't know about?

It's customary in a death case for lawyers agree to a deal where the client gets life. For some, life without parole is preferable to death. I may not agree, but I can understand it.

But this? He's pleading guilty to a sentence of up to 150 years. The Government says it's no longer bound by its earlier promise at the time of the bond hearing not to take $70 plus million assets in the name of his wife. The Wall St. Journal now reports that prosecutors say the investigation is continuing and her ability to keep her assets depends on what they find.

[More...]

The U.S. attorney's office for the Southern District of New York noted Mr. Madoff's claim about his wife's assets in a footnote of a federal-court filing on Monday. The claim came as a federal judge modified a prior order freezing Mr. Madoff's assets. Prosecutors will now be allowed to seek the seizure of Mr. Madoff's assets without violating the prior order. "We consented to the order," said Ira Lee Sorkin, a lawyer for Mr. and Mrs. Madoff.

The filing didn't address whether Ruth Madoff's assets should be subject to seizure if her husband is convicted in an alleged multibillion-dollar fraud and prosecutors should seize his assets to compensate victims. In that circumstance, prosecutors would need to show that Ruth Madoff's assets are a product of Mr. Madoff's alleged fraud or that she was directly involved in the fraud, says Howard Kleinhendler, a New York lawyer.

Are they promising they will join in his request to remain free on bond until sentencing? They said no agreements, so I don't think so. Does Bernie have dual citizenship that would allow, under a prisoner transfer treaty, for him to be moved to a country