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Honored Contributor
Posts: 14,930
Registered: ‎03-11-2010

Re: Bernie Madoff Terminally Ill Seeks Compassionate Release

[ Edited ]

While yes I do feel bad he's dying in prison he made his bed now he has to lie in it.

He bilked millions from people. He should not get out of prison to spend any of that money on the very best health care he can get til his death.

I would be fuming if I was one that got ripped off.

He has better medical than a lot of people where he's at so why is he complaining?

Respected Contributor
Posts: 4,935
Registered: ‎07-02-2015

Re: Bernie Madoff Terminally Ill Seeks Compassionate Release

The victims I feel most sorry for are the elderly widows and older couples who  thought they had every reason to trust Madoff with their life savings.

 

  I've seen a few interviews with people who were reduced to poverty, or had to go back to work in order to survive.  They will never recover.  Any settlements disbursed out of his assets were reportedly too small to even approach what would be reasonable.

 

Sending out falsified financial statements to clients claiming their investments were raking in big dollars is about the worst thing any "respected member of the Wall Street community" could do to anyone.

 

The electric chair would be too good for that kind of person.

Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,152
Registered: ‎02-05-2018

Re: Bernie Madoff Terminally Ill Seeks Compassionate Release

[ Edited ]

How many people lost their ability to pay for their own medical bills because of him?

 

How many people have had to work until they died because he stole their retirement money?

 

What compassion did he show them?

 

Getting cancer does not absolve people who did awful things or mean they magically no longer deserve the sentence they received.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 18,415
Registered: ‎11-25-2011

Re: Bernie Madoff Terminally Ill Seeks Compassionate Release


@esmerelda wrote:

Sentence of 150 years is a joke. Given to satisfy vengeful people. 


It was given to satisfy an illegal action.

That's how our court system works.

Respected Contributor
Posts: 4,935
Registered: ‎07-02-2015

Re: Bernie Madoff Terminally Ill Seeks Compassionate Release

[ Edited ]

Federal sentencing guidelines probably dictated the 150 years.......a certain amount of prison time  given for each count on which he was found guilty.

 

I heard one TV report this morning that mentioned he got that much time to send a message to future criminals, and to make sure he never got out.

 

His condition sounds a little too serious to be able to perpetrate any more crimes.  I think the world is safe from Bernie.

 

Former WorldCom CEO Bernie Ebbers just died after getting a compassionate release.   He ripped off a lot of investors, too.

 

<<Bernard John Ebbers was a Canadian businessman and the co-founder and CEO of WorldCom. Under his management, WorldCom grew rapidly but collapsed in 2002 amid revelations of accounting irregularities, making it at the time one of the largest accounting scandals in the United States.

 

Ebbers blamed his subordinates but was convicted of fraud and conspiracy. In December 2019, Ebbers was released from Federal Medical Center, Fort Worth due to declining health, having served 13 years of his 25-year sentence, and he died just over a month later.>>

Honored Contributor
Posts: 37,847
Registered: ‎06-11-2011

Re: Bernie Madoff Terminally Ill Seeks Compassionate Release

One thing to keep in mind: nobody really knows how much time he has left. Doctors' predictions are often wrong and people can live much longer (or shorter) than estimated. So Bernie could be released and live years more.

I didn't answer my own question in my first post; I do not think he should be released. @esmerelda I certainly see your point about how he in effect got a life sentence for a white collar crime when murderers often get less time than that. But unequal sentences for crimes is a matter for the legislature to address in the enactment of laws (not a matter to be addressed in one man's particular case) and one could argue that Madoff's crime affected a lot more people than one person's murder did, even though the crime was a white collar one.

I say leave him in jail.
Honored Contributor
Posts: 10,892
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: Bernie Madoff Terminally Ill Seeks Compassionate Release

It's money that could have been protected by those who wanted to believe the unbelievable. They could have put their money in protected IRAs and lost nothing but then greed took over. They gambled and lost. Plain and simple.

 

People buy lottery tickets with money meant for rent, they buy scratch offs and if they win $20 they go back and spend that $20 on more scratch offs. I see them sitting in their cars in the parking lots of convenience stores, scratching them.

 

Should we feel sorry for them? Should the Gov be punished for tempting them?

 

Some had no choice, others chose for them when they invested their pensions in what should have warned they away as a scheme too good to be true. Those people should be punished as well as Madoff. But are they? Of course not; they are claiming to be victims as well.

Respected Contributor
Posts: 4,935
Registered: ‎07-02-2015

Re: Bernie Madoff Terminally Ill Seeks Compassionate Release

[ Edited ]

@Pearlee 

 

I heard earlier that he's hooked up to a dialysis machine.  He apparently has other health issues, too. Doubt he will last long from here.

 

<<His lawyer, Brandon Sample, said in a court filing that Madoff has “chronic kidney failure that has progressed to end-stage renal disease.” Madoff also suffers from other conditions, including heart disease, high blood pressure, esophageal reflux, insomnia, shortness of breath, back pain, itching, leg cramps and anxiety, according to the filing.>>

 

Can't help but laugh at some of those "ailments"---sounds like Bernie's just a regular guy.

 

 

Trusted Contributor
Posts: 1,064
Registered: ‎12-28-2012

Re: Bernie Madoff Terminally Ill Seeks Compassionate Release

Bernie and his greed destroyed thousands of peoples lives. He doesn't deserve an early out of prison. I don't feel any sympathy for his condition. I just think of all of those who lost money and their lives have never returned to a normal. If he does get released, wouldn't he need to go into hiding because people are going to protest it. I'm tired of rich sick jerks getting off easy for their crimes. 

Honored Contributor
Posts: 37,847
Registered: ‎06-11-2011

Re: Bernie Madoff Terminally Ill Seeks Compassionate Release

Occasionalrain. There is a big difference between a legitimate investment and an illegitimate scheme where someone is ripping people off. That's very different from buying lottery tickets where the terms are upfront and fair (even if odds are against the buyer).