Put Madoff in jail now, prosecutor requests
"The defendant's recent actions amount to obstruction of justice," Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Litt told U.S. Magistrate Judge Ronald Ellis at an hourlong bail hearing. The prosecutor said one package of items that was accompanied by a handwritten note from Madoff may alone be worth more than $1 million.
The judge ordered both sides to submit written arguments this week and said he would rule later.
Madoff's lawyer, Ira Sorkin, said his client did not violate a court-imposed asset freeze by mailing heirlooms including $25 cufflinks, pens and a $200 pair of mittens through the post office to his brother, a son and daughter-in-law and a New York couple vacationing in Florida.
Sorkin called it an innocent mistake and said Madoff and his wife sought the return of the items they had sent on Dec. 24 as soon as they were told they could not send them out. He also suggested that some of the items mailed belonged to Madoff's wife and therefore were not subject to a court order at that time.
"We maintain it happened innocently," Sorkin said. "He's not a threat to the community, and there's no danger he's going to flee."
Madoff was released without restrictions after his arrest, angering critics who thought it was unfair that a man accused of such a large fraud could walk the streets. Prosecutors later tightened conditions of his bail to the point that Madoff is now under constant surveillance and confined to his Manhattan penthouse around the clock, the only exception being court hearings.
His $10 million bail was secured by his homes in Manhattan, Long Island and Florida.
The 70-year-old Madoff, a former Nasdaq stock market chairman, was arrested Dec. 11 on securities fraud charges alleging he duped investors out of as much as $50 billion in a giant Ponzi scheme.
At some point during his home confinement, Madoff and his wife decided to start sending the personal items to relatives and friends, including cufflinks that had been given to him by his granddaughter.
Sorkin said lawyers learned for the first time that the watch and jewelry had been sent to relatives and the couple in Florida when they were preparing a statement of Madoff's assets on Dec. 30 that had to be turned over to the Securities and Exchange Commission a day later.
Comments
- Refinery video to be released 5:02 p.m.
- Guv: No need to rush Snake Valley 4:49 p.m.
- Start mammograms at 50, not 40 3:28 p.m.
- Pitta named semifinalist for award 3:11 p.m.
- Time Warner to spin off AOL 3:08 p.m.
- GMAC CEO steps down 3:07 p.m.
- Man arrested in '03 kidnapping 3:07 p.m.
- Tenn. loses 2 players to crime 2:48 p.m.
- Michigan didn't keep players logs 2:47 p.m.
- Barzee to plead guilty 2:47 p.m.
- MWC expand? Get rid of deadweight
- Relieved Cougs prep for Falcons
- Wounded Utes limp home
- Jazz rookies had to grow up quickly
- Big games keep UHSAA coffers full
- RSL surprised by Chicago's Fire
- Barzee to plead guilty
- Williams returns to team
- Jazz notes: Young bigs ride bench
- Vitamin D deficiency puts U.S. at risk
- TCU creams U.
233 - BYU happy to escape with victory
232 - Editorial: Mormons and gay rights
220 - Will state consider gay rights law?
157 - RSL heads to MLS title game
133 - Can BYU root for (ick) Utah Utes?
132 - Utes remain silent about BCS
120 - TCU stays 4th in AP; Y. 19th, U. 23rd
114 - MWC expand? Get rid of deadweight
106 - Celtics crush Jazz
104
Maybe someone out there can help me understand how raising the state...
How do you handle kids and contests? Our oldest daughter, 7, is of the...
Wes Mathews! Yeah!
who cares the real games are this wk not tucked away on somebodies else's...
My husband has been an umpire for years and spends months in the sun. He...
Keep Mathews and Fess and Maynor! Dump the rest of the overpaid bums and...
One thing I now know for sure. The rest of the Mountain West Conference now...
What bishop of Kanab are you talking about? The first one or the last one?...
We are all dumber having read your comment.
Wow, some of you are quite critical of teachers. I have serious criticisms...
If that is the approach, to declare this a medical procedure, he is still...
Thank goodness for the international students who give us variety, help us...


You can be the first to comment on this story.