Madoff arrives at N.C. prison

BUTNER, N.C. -- Bernard Madoff's life of luxury is a thing of the past.

The disgraced financier, blamed for what is believed to be the largest Ponzi scheme in history, arrived yesterday at a federal prison in North Carolina to begin a 150-year sentence in a cell with two bunk beds, a toilet and a sink.

Madoff -- prisoner No. 61727-054 -- arrived somewhat under cover at the Butner Federal Correctional Complex about 45 miles northwest of Raleigh. Onlookers said a bus backed into the entrance, then a sport utility vehicle pulled in front of it, blocking photographers and TV cameras trying to get a glimpse.

A prison official said Madoff, 71, would be treated like any other inmate. If so, Madoff can plan to work seven-hour days on jobs such as painting, plumbing and groundskeeping. There's also no Internet access, televisions in common rooms only, and limited recreation time.

Madoff will be held in one of two medium-security facilities and likely will have a cell mate who could be a convict sentenced for a similar white-collar crime or something violent.

"I wouldn't describe any of the facilities here as a nice place," Butner spokesman Greg Norton said.

Madoff pleaded guilty in March to charges that his investment advisory business was a multibillion-dollar scheme that wiped out thousands of investors and ruined charities.

In a Ponzi scheme, early investors are paid by diverting money from new investors. When the flow of new money dries up, the scheme collapses and the fraud is exposed. Authorities said Madoff had carried out the fraud for at least two decades before confessing to his sons in December that his investment business was a fraud and that he had lost as much as $50 billion.

Madoff left a New York lockup on Monday, then arrived at federal prison in Atlanta before heading to Butner.

The Butner complex includes two medium-security facilities, a low-security facility and a hospital. Within the federal prison system, it is perhaps best known for its hospital facility to treat elderly or ill prisoners.

Among the well-known criminals being held at Butner are:

• John Rigas, founder of Adelphia Communications, and his son, Tim, the company's chief financial officer. They were convicted on multiple charges of securities fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud and bank fraud.

• Jonathan Pollard, the American convicted of spying for Israel more than two decades ago.

• Omar Abdel-Rahman, also known as the blind sheik, who was sentenced to life in prison in 1995 for his role in a plot to kill Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and blow up New York City landmarks, including the United Nations. He was sentenced to life in prison in 1995 and moved to Butner in 2007.