Madoff. the face of Evil? Like looking in to the eyes of Hitler? A Monster or just another old criminal ?

Someone asked me what I thought should happen to Bernie Madoff now that he has pled guilty to the worlds biggest Ponzi scheme. I suppose in a perfect world, a Sienfeld episode, or an 80's Eddie Murphy movie, Madoff would be sentenced to a life of servitude, the personal butler of his victims, or some other wacky Hollywood ending. The truth is, whatever happens, a life sentence, seizure of his assets, it's all a moot point, most of the money has been scattered to the four winds, paid out over the years to keep the scam afloat, probably several million, or billion tucked away for the family. The money is gone, at least the majority of it, Madoff is an old man, he had a 20 plus year run, in the game of crime, he is a winner.



On the other hand are the losers, people swindled out of millions, or a modest retirement. There is no restitution. Watching Madoff get hauled away in cuffs, the knowledge he will die in confinement, small comfort and poor recompense. Some of the victims have described Madoff as evil, or like looking in to the eyes of Hitler. I'm sure those people believe that, feel it with every fiber of their being. But Madoff isn't Hitler or the most evil person, not even close. He is a criminal, and like all criminals, he was propelled by greed. I think I speak with some authority when I say that criminals don't weigh the repercussions beforehand, never consider the ripple effect, that's what makes them criminals. I never walked in a bank thinking about all of the people effected by what I was about to do. I just thought about that money, and how I was going to get me some of it. I don't say that boastfully, it's a horrible way to think, to go through life, but it is real insight in to the way things work in that world. Criminals, real criminals, have a disconnect that most people don't have. It's that disconnect that allows them to be a criminal, I had it, Madoff has it in spades.

There is no shortage of tragedies in all of this. People committed suicide, charities went bust, lives were destroyed. Madoff was the perp, but what about the people who allowed him to do what he did? Where were the regulators, the watchdogs, their complacency is almost as bad as Madoffs crimes. I suppose if you measure justice by jail time, then Madoff had justice served upon him. But the feds let him get away without admitting to a conspiracy, and we all know he didn't act alone. There should have been RICO charges, there should have been multi count, multi defendant indictments. Maybe there will be, but I can't help but think there was some back room deal going on. He copped too fast, there was no deal, something isn't right. Anyone looking for true justice, a genuine resolution, should feel cheated.



Madoff does have a saving grace, if you can call it that, and it was on display when he pled to all of the charges. He could have drug this thing out for years, stayed in his penthouse, either died of old age, or at his own hand, but he didn't. Clearly he copped a plea to avoid a trial that would have almost certainly implicated his co conspirators, his wife, his sons, and anyone else who was involved in his scheme. That sacrifice is what kills the " he was a monster theory". Monsters don't throw themselves under the bus to save others. I can't imagine that this case is over, the main players in Madoffs Ponzi scheme still have their day of reckoning coming. Madoff will spend his remaining days in federal prison. Contrary to news hype, he wont serve hard time. The feds arent going to drop him in the middle of a bunch of hard types. Madoff will fade in to obscurity, just another old man spending his final days in federal prison, living in better conditions than many nursing home residents.