Madoff Whines He Has Become Wall Street‘s ’Human Piñata’
- Posted on June 28, 2011 at 9:56am by
Christopher Santarelli
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When serving a 150-year sentence you have a lot of time to either lament or complain. Ponzi-schemer Bernarnd L. Madoff has chosen the latter, going off in the New York Times about the judge who delivered his hefty sentence and made him “the human piñata of Wall Street,” while other government officials and financial firms have been able to “walk away free.” From the New York Times:
“‘Maybe the judge felt, ‘Well, he’s 70 years old, so even if I give him 20 years, he’s going to be 90 years old,’ ‘Mr. Madoff said by phone from the federal prison at Butner, N.C.
‘But quite frankly, there’s a big difference with dying in prison, you know, and dying outside with your family.’
Judge Chin has said in recent interviews that he considered a sentence that might have allowed Mr. Madoff to be freed when he is in his 90s. But he concluded that Mr. Madoff simply did not deserve it, and in court called his conduct ‘extraordinarily evil.’
Mr. Madoff, in a recent series of interviews and e-mails, took issue with the judge’s description. To characterize him as ‘this monster and this evil person,’ he said, ‘I just think that was totally unrealistic and unfair.’
‘In my mind, Chin was anything but fair, with zero understanding of the industry,’ Mr. Madoff added.
He said the judge had made him ‘the human piñata of Wall Street,‘ while financial firms and government officials ’walk away free.’
‘Remember,’ he said, ‘they caused the recession, not me.’”
Not to give any vindication or sympathy for Bernie Madoff, but is it fair to say he brings some interesting arguements to the table? Is it in anyway just that his sentence may have been influenced by the anti-Wall Street environment of the time? The NY Times did a second recent story on Madoff’s sentencer Judge Denny Chin:
“Judge Chin noted in the interviews that 20 or 25 years would have effectively been a life sentence for Mr. Madoff, and any additional years would have been purely symbolic. Yet symbolism was important, he said, given the enormity of Mr. Madoff’s crimes.
‘Splitting the baby, to me, was sending the wrong message,’ he said. ‘Often that’s the easy way out, but as we know from the old parable, that wasn’t the right thing to do.’
The judge reflected on the fraud’s unprecedented scale, its duration over two decades and its thousands of victims. At that point, the judge said, symbolism ‘carried more weight.”
Anytime a judge admits to using symbolism in his decisions I cringe a little from the smell of possible judicial activism, or what Madoff says as giving into the “mob psychology of the time.” Madoff, who did not appeal his sentence, is in a North Carolina medium-security prison where spends most of his days walking track and reading books.
“Mr. Madoff, now 73, said the thought of dying in prison remained very difficult for him. Yet, he added, ‘if it wasn’t for the fact that I am constantly anguished about the pain I have caused my family and others, I could deal with prison life here at Butner.’”
Pain enough to lead Madoff’s son Mark to hang himself in his apartment on the second anniversary of Madoff‘s arrest last December with Madoff’s 2-year-old grandson sleeping nearby.
Do you think Madoff’s a creep, got what he deserved and should shut up? Do you think what he did was awful but question if any white-collar crime deserves the same sentencing as serial murderers? Do you think he would have gotten the same sentence if he had not been arrested during a crippling financial collapse?
(H/T: Dealbook)
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IAMABLAZE
Posted on June 29, 2011 at 8:53amLife’s a bitch, and then you bowl. Mr. Madoff should be fortunate that he is serving out his penalty here on earth. He would be best served to take his punishment humbly instead of whining about other’s lots in life as he may have something really to whine about when he gets to the other side of eternity.
Report Post »Southernguy
Posted on June 29, 2011 at 8:05amGimme’ the stick…….I’ll take a whack or two at him ;)
Report Post »Paul_ Revere
Posted on June 29, 2011 at 2:50amWhat about the Obama administration losing 32 planes with pallets of 100 dollar bills totaling 6.7 billion they should have dumped them all at 10,000 feet makes madoff look like childs play
Report Post »capitalismrocks
Posted on June 29, 2011 at 2:13amCry me a river Madoff… you crook !
Report Post »MUDFLAPS
Posted on June 28, 2011 at 9:59pmbe nice if he actually were. Man think of that line.
Report Post »THE EQUALIZER
Posted on June 28, 2011 at 9:30pmNo sympathy for Bernie or his greedy victims. Who gets 20% return on anything?
Report Post »AmericanSubject
Posted on June 28, 2011 at 9:18pmHe’s the victim?
Report Post »If he had lived a rightous life he would not have been ‘Victimized’
He even corrupted his own children, how evile can a man get?
Mr. Oshawott
Posted on June 28, 2011 at 8:48pmBernie does make a good point there – we have plenty of corrupt politicians within our government that should be in prison right along with him. But that still doesn’t change the fact that Mr. Madoff did serious, perhaps even irreparable financial damage to those that invested in his stocks; therefore, he got what he rightfully deserves.
Report Post »harley10
Posted on June 28, 2011 at 8:28pmPlanning for the future requires hard work and planning yes, but when you turn your future over to someone else you get what you get. Love you man.
Report Post »donttreadonme
Posted on June 28, 2011 at 5:39pmHuman pinata–you are pal and you should be!
Report Post »harley10
Posted on June 28, 2011 at 5:07pmGreed from either direction is still greed. The people who gave their money expected something for nothing in return. They got what they deserved too.
Report Post »fitsgibbons
Posted on June 28, 2011 at 6:54pmHarley ..you must know that it’s a good idea to plan for the future,right? You need to get hooked up with people with honesty and integrity first and foremost. Madoff is slime…bro. Don’t be hating on people who are trying to get ahead in life. I love ya ,man.
Report Post »abbygirl1994
Posted on June 28, 2011 at 5:04pmSheesh this prisoner has balls.. Did you foget you are a P-R-I-S-O-N-E-R Why does anyone give this guy a voice, he is in prison and should never be heard from again. Everytime they give him a voice you harm those he robbed and bilked.
Report Post »BetsyRoss1513
Posted on June 28, 2011 at 3:23pmBernie, this is what happens when you do something horribly and unthinkably wrong and get caught and sentenced to prison for 150 years. You ARE IN JAIL, ergo you are POWERLESS in any respect. Did you think we’d just forget about your appalling crime and let it go? Good luck. You will be remembered with derision and disgust for many decades to come! You should count yourself FORTUNATE that all we‘re doing on the outside is ’treating you like a pinata”! Did you think you were going to a tea party? You feel alone and singled out?
Report Post »Don’t worry, in good time, you will have LOTS and LOTS of friends around you, with whom you can commiserate with. Have some patience, man!
Drum Man
Posted on June 28, 2011 at 2:52pmAs much as he deserves his punishment, he makes a good point that there are MANY others that skated free after robbing the stockholders, contributers.
Report Post »fitsgibbons
Posted on June 28, 2011 at 2:46pmHe destroyed many families with his greed. He got what he deserved. Madoff should shut up and do his time. He’s probably a lot safer in prison than he would be on the streets.
Report Post »harley10
Posted on June 28, 2011 at 5:04pmfitsgibbons, maddoff could not have “hurt” so many family’s had they not been trying to get something for nothing. greed from either direction is still greed.
Report Post »fitsgibbons
Posted on June 28, 2011 at 6:48pmYou must not invest for your future?
Report Post »Elena2010
Posted on June 28, 2011 at 2:34pmCan’t do the time? Then don’t do the crime!
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on June 28, 2011 at 2:49pmHow true that is…
Love the picture they have of him; he has made the Wall Street impossible to function save for anyone who is with the Fed’s, so why is he so shocked on taking the blame and heat as well?
Report Post »Sound The Trumpet In Zion
Posted on June 28, 2011 at 4:04pm@Elena2010
Report Post »Perfectly stated. The shame though is that the ones running the other ponzi schemes like Social Security and most of the other government agencies, along with the fanny mae and freddie mac should all be in there sharing a cell with him for at least as long a term if not longer than Madoff.
Parkeralan
Posted on June 28, 2011 at 6:18pmYou are a thief Bernie, nothing more. May your years in prison be enough to save your soul. Denial is not a river in Egypt.
Report Post »AOL_REFUGEE
Posted on June 28, 2011 at 9:54pmA human pinata? Not really. I don’t think anyone would want to whack Bernie open with a stick, considering what he’s full of.
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