Bernard Madoff is in jail. Not house arrest, which is what he requested. His house makes some small towns look like a efficiency apartment. I would love to be in house arrest in his house. He is in a small cell, two bunks and no private toilet. No news on whether or not he will have a roommate, but I have high hopes.
I think this is a big deal. There isn't really a reason he couldn't be under house arrest. True, he might be able to bribe a guard, sneak out of the country, and withdraw unknown abouts of money from secret bank accounts, but seriously, how much would I have to pay you to let Madoff go free? More than he has around his house, I bet. He can't bribe you with anything that could be traced back to him. And you'd have to have a darned good cover story.
I don't think he's in jail because he's a flight risk. I think he's in jail because things have finally gotten bad enough that even rich people are getting justice. Arthur Andersen (the Enron accounting firm) wasn't held accountable. Kenneth Lay (chairman and CEO of Enron) is currently free (well, dead, but free). Dennis Kozlowski of Tyco got all of 8 years in prison. This is the way it goes in America.
But maybe Madoff is the felon that broke the camel's back. Maybe he will actually go to Federal Pound-You-In-The-Ass-Prison, and maybe he will stay there. Maybe white collar crime is actually starting to be a crime!