Bernie Madoff, the former investment adviser with powerful connections who was convicted of running one of the largest Ponzi schemes in U.S. history has died in prison at the age of 82.
The Associated Press reported Wednesday that Madoff died early Wednesay morning at teh federal medical center in Butner, North Carolina, and that his death was believed to be of natural causes.
In 2009 Madoff pleaded guilty to 11 crimes relating to a Ponzi scheme considered to be the largest in the world. Madoff tricked thousands of investors out of billions of dollars. He was sentenced to 150 years in prison.
In February 2020, Madoff’s lawyer asked that he be released from prison on compassionate grounds. In that filing, his lawyer claimed that Madoff has “18 months to live” and was suffering from cardiovascular disease and hypertension.