SEEKING COMPASSION

Bernie Madoff Asks to Make ‘Dying, Personal Plea’ for Prison Release

The mastermind behind a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme, who is dying from kidney failure, wants to ask the judge for “compassionate release.”

Bernie Madoff, the mastermind behind a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme, wants to give a “final dying, personal plea” to a judge and ask for his release by accepting full responsibility for his crimes. Madoff, who is severely ill and suffering kidney failure, is serving a 150-year sentence in a North Carolina prison. In a court filing, the 81-year-old’s lawyer Brandon Sample requested a hearing for his client with Circuit Judge Denny Chin, which is “likely to be the last proceeding in this case before Mr Madoff’s death,” adding that he has “less than 18 months to live.” Madoff founded the Wall Street firm Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC and served as chairman until he was arrested in 2008. He pleaded guilty to 11 federal felonies in 2009 and admitted to stealing almost $65 billion from his clients. Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan have argued against Madoff’s release, saying that he is guilty of “deflecting blame” and has not accepted full responsibility for his crimes.