Bernie Madoff wants a favor from Donald Trump: He’s asking the president to reduce his 150-year prison sentence.
The 81-year-old Ponzi schemer has filed a petition for clemency with the Department of Justice. He’s seeking not a complete pardon, just a reduced sentence, according to FoxBusiness.com.
Madoff pleaded guilty to 11 crimes in 2009 that were connected with what CNBC called the largest Ponzi scheme in history. Prosecutors said his company, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, swindled thousands of investors out of billions of dollars.
The Justice Department would not reveal when Madoff’s request was submitted, but noted that it typically takes from one month to three months for a clemency application to appear on its website, which Madoff’s now does. The DOJ website lists the status of Madoff’s clemency case as “pending.”
It’s unclear whether Trump will consider the request.
Trump, in his 2009 book “Think Like a Champion,” calls Madoff “without a doubt a sleazebag and a scoundrel without par,” according to U.S. News. Trump said he turned down Madoff’s investment pitch because “I’m not a fund guy.”
The Justice Department says on its website that it has received 1,003 petitions for pardons and 5,657 for sentence commutations since Trump has been president. So far, Trump has granted 10 pardons and four commutations.
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