Bernie Madoff begins serving sentence in North Carolina Prison

Bernie Madoff, the convicted head of the largest Ponzi scheme in history, arrived Tuesday at the federal prison in Butner, North Carolina.

On June 29th, the 71 year old Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison for bilking investors out of more than $50 billion in a massive Ponzi scheme. The Federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed that Madoff was at the facility in North Carolina, but could not say if that is where he would be serving his sentence. The prison, located north of the Raleigh-Durham area, is a medium security prison with almost 4,900 inmates. Madoff had originally requested to be placed in the federal penitentiary in Otisville, New York; but a transfer must be approved by the Federal Bureau of Prisons first. It is the Bureau's general policy to try and place inmates within 500 miles of their homes. Madoff's assigned prisoner number is 61727-054 and has a projected release date from prison on November 14, 2139. Since his sentencing, Madoff has declared he would not appeal his sentence and most of his assets are being seized to repay those victims of his Ponzi scheme. Madoff's wife Ruth was allowed to keep $2.5 million, but all other assets were seized.