Describing what life may be like for Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff in federal prison, New York magazine says that because Madoff told investigators he wished he had been caught earlier, prison offered Madoff a measure of relief. He no longer had to fear the knock on the door that would signal “the jig was up,” as he put it. From the day he arrived at the softer of two medium-security facilities in North Carolina’s Butner federal prison in handcuffs and shackles, he was a celebrity, even if his admirers were now murderers and sex offenders.
“Bernie walked around prison confident,” says ex-con Keith Mack, adding, “he acted like he beat the world.” Madoff landed at Butner Medium I, “Camp Fluffy,” as those who'd experienced other prisons call it. Medium I, population 758, is filled with “soft” prisoners, those who might not survive other institutions, including pedophiles and cooperators (“rats”). Some inmates organize themselves by “bid,” their sentence, and Madoff associated with a group that referred to itself as “the lifers gang.”