Disgraced financier Bernie Madoff says that he is dying and has asked a judge to release him from prison. In a court filing, the 81-year-old revealed that he has terminal kidney failure and that doctors have given him less than 18 months to live.
"I'm terminally ill," Madoff told the Washington Post. "There's no cure for my type of disease. So, you know, I've served. I've served 11 years already, and, quite frankly, I've suffered through it,"
Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in jail in 2009 after pleading guilty to 11 felony charges for running the largest Ponzi scheme in history. He bilked wealthy investors from around the world out of more than $64 billion. The Madoff Recovery Initiative has recovered nearly $13 billion, while another fund has paid back more than $2 billion to the victims of Madoff's fraud.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York asked a judge to set a March 4 deadline for them to submit a response to Madoff's request. Madoff's team would then have until March 11 to respond.
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