Inmate No. 61727-054, aka Bernard Madoff

The Wall Street Journal has an article by a bunch of journalists about the jailing of Bernie Madoff:

Bernard Madoff was sent to jail Thursday after confessing to one of the largest frauds in history, telling a courtroom filled with people he cheated that he was "sorry and ashamed" for bilking so many out of their life savings. "As the years went by, I realized that my arrest and this day would inevitably come," said the seventy-year-old Mr. Madoff, dressed in a crisp white shirt and charcoal-gray suit. "I am painfully aware that I have deeply hurt many, many people, including the members of my family, my closest friends, business associates and the thousands of clients who gave me their money. I cannot adequately express how sorry I am for what I have done," he added.
The jailing of inmate No. 61727-054 marked the climax of three months of international intrigue after Mr. Madoff confessed his epic crime to his sons, leading to his arrest on 11 December. Mr. Madoff's decline and fall added to a national crisis of confidence and distrust of the financial system. The human costs have also been severe, with some investors losing all their money, and at least one committing suicide. The moment was reminiscent of the arrests of Enron executives Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, symbols of the corporate crime wave that followed the boom of the late 1990s.
Mr. Madoff pleaded guilty to eleven felony counts and, for the first time, publicly described how he managed the global, multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme and concealed it from federal authorities and investors for more than a decade. He pled guilty after waiving a grand-jury indictment and criminal trial in hopes of receiving a more lenient sentence from the judge. He faces a maximum sentence of 150 years, but is more likely to get about twenty years in prison, if his sentences run concurrently.
U.S. District Judge Denny Chin revoked Mr. Madoff's bail, no longer allowing him to remain in his $7 million Manhattan penthouse where he has been living under twenty-four-hour security guard since mid-December. He was sent directly to jail, pending his sentencing on 16 June. The decision drew a burst of applause from a crowd of Madoff investors and other spectators in the courtroom.
A small group of burned investors were given time to speak. One of them, George Nierenberg, walked toward Mr. Madoff at the defense table and demanded that he face his victims in the galleries. As Mr. Madoff briefly turned to look at Mr. Nierenberg, two marshals directed the investor back to the podium.
Mr. Madoff, known for his icy composure, showed occasional signs of pressure during the hearing. He nervously twiddled his thumbs just before the proceeding started, and his eye twitch— a longtime condition— became more pronounced during his statement. He spoke so quietly that the judge had to ask him to speak up. His wife, Ruth, an employee with his firm, did not appear at the hearing.
After the judge said, "Tell me what you did," Mr. Madoff spent twelve minutes discussing his crime. Some details conflicted with the claims of prosecutors. For example, Mr. Madoff said the fraud began in the 1990s. Prosecutors stated they believe the fraud dates back to at least the 1980s.
Mr. Madoff also said his brother, Peter, and two sons, Andrew and Mark, worked for his brokerage and trading business which was separate from the fraudulent investment-advisory business and was "legitimate, profitable and successful". Yet a court-appointed trustee for his bankrupt firm has said that the investment advisory business and brokerage business were "one".
Mr. Madoff did shed some light on why he started the fraud and whether he knew he would get caught. He said when the fraud started in the early 1990s, he felt "compelled" to give institutional investors strong returns despite the weak stock market and national recession. "When I began the Ponzi scheme I believed it would end shortly and I would be able to extricate myself and my clients from the scheme," he told the court. "However, this proved difficult and ultimately impossible." He didn't explain how he invested clients' money before the 1990s or why the recession of the early 1990s would cause him to suddenly stop investing on behalf of clients.
Mr. Nierenberg, one of the investors in the courtroom, challenged the government on why it didn't charge Mr. Madoff with being part of a conspiracy, saying the scale and complexity of the fraud had to involve others. Prosecutors said they are investigating others in the case. In his statement to the court, Mr. Madoff didn't address the issue of whether anyone else knowingly helped him carry out his fraud, though in the past he has said he acted alone.
The judge's decision to send Mr. Madoff directly to jail brought a rare moment of cheer to investors. "To see the cuffs on him, what a relief," said Burt Ross, the former Fort Lee, New Jersey, mayor, moments after leaving the court and hugging his wife, Joan Ross. His eyes filled with tears, Mr. Ross talked about how the financier who once managed five million dollars of his money looked "remorseless" in front of the court.
During the bail discussion, Mr. Madoff's lawyer, Ira Sorkin, explained to the judge that his client's wife, Ruth, paid for a security company to monitor Mr. Madoff at her "own expense". The crowd burst into derisive laughter, since many believe her money came from the Ponzi scheme.
Sharon Lissauer, a model from New York City who last year invested an inheritance from her mother with Mr. Madoff, said that the jail time was appropriate, but wouldn't help her financial troubles. "All my savings have been lost. I'm very close to falling apart," she said, riding the elevator down from the 24th-floor court hearing. She said her life savings were gone and that it's been difficult to find work.
David Shapiro, a former Federal Bureau of Investigation agent and assistant professor of economics at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said that like many fraudsters, Mr. Madoff appeared to have divorced himself from the human impact of his actions and found ways to justify the scam. "When you're making all this money and you realize nobody's really checking on you, the temptations become too great," Mr. Shapiro said.
It's unclear where Mr. Madoff will do his prison time. That will be determined by the Bureau of Prisons after a presentencing report from probation officers. Immediately after the hearing, he was taken to the Metropolitan Correctional Center, a dormitory-style jail across the street from the courthouse in lower Manhattan where he will be held until sentencing. Scott Sussman, a spokesman for the facility, wouldn't provide information specific to Mr. Madoff's detention, and said Mr. Madoff is declining all requests for interviews. Mr. Sussman said typical cells at the corrections center house two inmates and are 7 feet by 8 feet with a bunk bed, sink, desk and toilet. Mr. Madoff's day will begin at six a.m. with "lights on" and breakfast at 6:30. The facility's lights are turned out at eleven. If Mr. Madoff is housed with the general population, he will likely have available to him a television in a common area. He will be allowed to play ping-pong or to visit the library and work on his legal case. Every other day, he will be allowed to go to the roof where there is a basketball court and "other amenities". He will likely be issued a khaki shirt and pants as a prison uniform. Mr. Sorkin filed a notice of appeal with the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, indicating he plans to challenge the judge's order to jail Mr. Madoff.
Helicopters and other media vehicles followed Mr. Madoff's trip from his apartment to the courthouse in the predawn hours on Thursday. More than a dozen television trucks were parked outside the courthouse and dozens of photographers waited outside in hopes of getting one last shot of Mr. Madoff as he entered the building.
Judith Welling, a New York investor who says she lost more than one million dollars together with her husband, watched the confession from the court's crowded overflow room. "He didn't seem ashamed," she said. "This was a man who didn't care what he did to his friends."

Rico says he's still wondering, as are many people, if Bernie successfully 'made off' with a bunch of the money and, if so, where is it?