Madoff Dying of Cancer: Inmates

Bernie Madoff may not serve much of his 150-year sentence: The Ponzi schemer is suffering from cancer, fellow inmates tell the New York Post, and has been telling everyone he doesn't have long to live. “He’s been taking about 20 pills a day for his cancer,” one tells the tabloid. "He talks about it all the time. He's not doing very well." Not that the Post musters any sympathy. Today's headline reads: "MADOFF DYING—UNLESS HE CAN CHEAT DEATH, TOO."

Rumors of pancreatic cancer first surfaced months before he went to prison as a possible explanation for why Madoff took the fall by himself. Inmates also tell the Post Madoff has been participating in a Native American sweat lodge and prayer meetings. The bare-chested religious ceremony is said to help detoxify the body. His other friends? The homosexual clique. “In prison, you stick to your own kind, but he's doing the exact opposite by hanging with the Indians and [homosexuals],” says one inmate. “So who is going to have his back?” (More Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities stories.)