Bernie Madoff serves sentence in green, LEED-certified federal prison
America's most famous scammer will spend the rest of his life in LEED-certified Butner Federal Prison.
By Stephanie RogersThu, Jul 16 2009 at 1:48 PM EST
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Photo: Correctional News Editor's note (12/23/09): Bernie Madoff was moved to the medical wing of his prison. Officials, citing privacy concerns, won't reveal the nature of his condition. But there are things we do know about his prison -- like the fact that it's eco-friendly....
Bernie Madoff didn’t want to go to Butner Federal Prison, located in a quiet suburban area outside of Durham, N.C. He would have preferred Otisville, which is just 70 miles outside of NYC, but being rich and famous doesn’t mean the feds care about your preferences. At least Madoff can take comfort in the fact that the prison where he’ll spend the remaining years of his life is green.
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Among the prison’s sustainable aspects are bicycle storage, alternative fuel refueling stations, specified parking for alternative transportation, reduced site disturbance, storm water management and an exterior designed to reduce the heat island effect.
It also has water-smart landscaping, low-flow plumbing fixtures, optimized energy performance and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Many of the materials used to build the prison were locally sourced, 70 percent of construction waste was recycled and the faculty uses green cleaning products.
“It really was almost business as usual for the most part because a lot of the equipment that we put in is energy efficient already,” says Bill Downs, senior project manager for the construction of the prison. “The components are out there to enhance whatever construction is going on and they are not significantly higher in price. A lot of the manpower at the Butner project went to man-hours doing reports, documenting and putting statistics together that you don’t usually do with a construction job.”
Madoff will be able to spend his time in the library, recreation yard or watching television – as long as the programs are rated PG-13 or lower. He’ll also have a chance to get a job taking care of some of that sustainable xeriscaping. He may not have his freedom, but he’ll be living the leisurely green life, which, some would argue, is more than this criminal deserves.
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Comments
theweldingreview
08/21/2009 17:56 PM
I suspect no matter how green things are in prison, the people he bilked are seeing red.
Anonymous
07/23/2009 13:00 PM
Bernie will live out the rest of his days in relative comfort, all his needs taken care of -- food, a bed, probably even T.V. and books. Much better than billions of people around the world have it.
nate
07/23/2009 00:28 AM
Wow. What's with the random Kevin Bacon hatred?
Jeret
07/22/2009 21:58 PM
Rich incompetent fools.Our country is screwed.Madoff was a swindler and "our"elites wanted to swindle more.Please read up on his clients because they are criminals as much as him,kevin bacon,dont feel sorry for his clients,they knew what they were gettin into
Anonymous
07/22/2009 11:21 AM
Lower daily cost to maintain a long-time offender makes sense to me.
Anonymous
07/22/2009 10:42 AM
I sure do hope Bernie's nice new Green Prison is secure. Don't want to see him get loose and pull another scheme. I hope they have one of the best alarm companies monitoring this guy!
Anonymous
07/25/2009 20:40 PM
He does not have to stay in jail, he has the money to have 1000's of ex special forces remove him from the prison and transport him to the nation of his choosing.
The fact a man like him has volunteered to go to prison and stay, shows he is sorry.
Anonymous
07/22/2009 00:18 AM
Whenever there is some kind of 'green' anything, it means someone is "making the green"!
Damned phony enviromentalist's.
Anonymous
07/22/2009 13:46 PM
The article stated the costs were minimal. And it's environmentalists.
Anonymous
07/22/2009 00:15 AM
The Headline Says it all.
jsveverka@yahoo.com
07/21/2009 13:00 PM
The world is going Green and some people just don't know it yet. We are at the start of the Green Century. All our hippy teachers in school have made us this way. Lincoln said it long ago. The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next.
Pravdaddy
07/21/2009 10:55 AM
Yes, but by the time he's serving the 50th or 60th year of his 150-year sentence, all prisons will be LEED-certified, so it won't be special anymore.
Dang
07/20/2009 13:33 PM
I just moved to Durham NC, and am very freaked out that the only green prison in the US is right down the road (had no idea), but also that the worlds worst (convicted) crook will be there.
Anonymous
07/21/2009 08:29 AM
Bernie Madoff is "the worlds worst (convicted) crook"? Seriously?
What, are you worried he's gonna escape and try and sell you the Brooklyn Bridge or something?
Anonymous
07/19/2009 01:51 AM
Bernie should spend his days in a Supermax Rectal Enlargement Unit.
Uncle B
07/18/2009 06:14 AM
America Love it or leave it, Goyim!
Anonymous
07/17/2009 18:37 PM
"70 percent of construction waste was recycled and the faculty uses green cleaning products."
Blair
07/17/2009 14:26 PM
Why the hell would a prison need bicycle storage?!
Anonymous
07/17/2009 12:43 PM
After swindeling families' life savings before prison...he's being sent to hang out in the library...meanwhile we continue to sustain him in prison.
Anonymous
07/17/2009 12:15 PM
Become gardeners in Florida?
shakira.23
07/17/2009 10:37 AM
That article is so great! Thanks for sharing it into us. I’ve learned something new.
Anonymous
07/17/2009 10:08 AM
an ad for a pyramid scheme in an article about Madoff.
Can you say "IRONY"?
dragonet2
07/17/2009 00:51 AM
I think he should be serving time in a supermax. He destroyed a lot of peoples' lives, He deserves the terror that another prisoner is going to rape him or abuse him. He's a piece of **** that deserves nothing but to be treated as such.
John Davis
07/16/2009 23:50 PM
Wow, that is pretty amazing. I am sure he will be comfortable there!
Bernie Madoff
07/16/2009 23:16 PM
HEY GUISE!!! IT'S REALLY AWSUM HERE!!! *MUAH* <3
Anonymous
07/16/2009 18:06 PM
Just when you think he's left our newscycle, he pulls us right back in.
Anonymous
07/16/2009 16:49 PM
I would have preferred Supermax but anywhere that Bernie doesn't want to go will do!! He wanted Otisville so it would be closer for Ruthie to visit and tried the "kosher" card to get in. But all those restaurants that Bernie ate out in? Well they weren't serving kosher food, so he didn't keep kosher so why should he go there?
Mark H. Sherman
07/16/2009 16:24 PM
Why would they send him there?
Dave Getty
07/16/2009 16:41 PM
Yep, North Carolina's federal penitentiary is pretty well-know and, from what I hear, a fairly nice joint.
Sharon F.
07/16/2009 16:23 PM
Ha .... Now I've seen it all.
