Legal Commentary

Where Will Madoff Serve His Sentence?

By Jeralyn

There's wild speculation all over TV and the internet about where Bernard Madoff will serve his ultimate sentence. A hyper-ventilating legal pundit on Fox News was yelling he'd go to a maximum security facility. Not so fast.

The Bureau of Prisons has a 108 page manual (pdf) (P5100.08), titled "Inmate Security Designation and Custody Classification", on designations. In Chapter 5, it identifies public safety factors and notes they can be waived. Generally, see page 50: [More...]

Sentence Length. A male inmate with more than ten years remaining to serve will be housed in at least a Low security level institution unless the PSF has been waived.

A male inmate with more than 20 years remaining to serve will be housed in at least a Medium security level institution, unless the PSF has been waived.

A male inmate with more than 30 years remaining to serve (including non-parolable LIFE sentences) will be housed in a High security level institution unless the PSF has been waived.

The institutions are designated Minimum, Low, Medium, High and Administrative, depending upon the level of security and staff supervision the institution is able to provide. Inmates are classified according to the level of security and supervision they require and their individual program needs.

Other factors considered are the inmate's residence, the recommendation of the judge and current population, i.e., overcrowding at a particular facility.

The inmate receives a security score and is then matched with an appropriate institution. But, that's not the only factor and it can be overridden.

An inmate’s security point score is not the only factor used in determining a commensurate security level for an inmate. The application of a PSF (Public Safety Factor) or MGTV (Management Variable) could effect placement at either a higher or lower level institution than the specified point total indicates. (SEE CHAPTER 5 FOR MORE DETAILED INFORMATION)

Even if the offense of conviction is of the highest magnitude,

Greatest Severity Offense. A male inmate whose current term of confinement falls into the "Greatest Severity" range according to the Offense Severity Scale (Appendix A) will be housed in at least a Low security level institution, unless the PSF has been waived.

But it appears Madoff's crime is only one of "moderate severity" which is described as "over $250,000, includes theft, fraud, tax evasion, forgery, currency offenses."

I don't claim to be an expert on the manual, but here's my initial assessment: Because he has no public safety factors (or if he has one it likely will be waived)and he may have a lower management security level than otherwise indicated, Madoff initially will go to a low or medium security facility (not a camp or a maximum) whether he gets 20 years or 150 years. MCC or MDC, whichever he is headed to today until sentencing, will be far worse.

I'll be curious to see whether anyone who is an expert on the manual gives an informed opinion.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on March 12, 2009 (boomark / email).