Bernie Madoff and Jonathan Pollard Are Prison Pals, Filing Says
Bernard Madoff may have lost all of his old friends, but he’s made some unlikely new ones — and among them is convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard, according to a recent court filing.
Madoff is now serving a 150-year-sentence in the North Carolina federal prison that also houses Pollard and mob boss Carmine Perisco, who is reported to be another one of the convicted Ponzi schemer’s prison pals.
The court papers, which support a lawsuit filed on behalf of several Madoff victims, contain details about the scammer’s bleak life in the slammer: Madoff apparently shares a prison cell and a bunk bed — Madoff sleeps on the bottom bunk — with a 21-year-old convicted drug offender, and “eats pizza cooked by an inmate convicted of child molestation.” (That’s quite a change for a man who, until recently, lived in an Upper East Side penthouse and dined frequently at Primola nearby.)
But then again, Madoff may have something in common with his new roommate: The same court papers allege that, beginning in 1975, Madoff tasked a staffer at his investment firm with procuring drugs for himself and other company employees; the filing also says that Madoff would hire topless, G-string-clad entertainers to perform in his Midtown office.
Watch this report for more on the court filings:
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
