The federal judge who sent Bernie Madoff away released 173 pages of letters and emails that victims of the Ponzi scheme had sent in before he pleaded guilty. Their names and addresses were blocked out, only the cities from which they wrote remained for most. Investors lashed out both at Madoff and his wife Ruth in their letters. Some quotes highlighted in today's local papers include:

• "The devil incarnate (should spend) the rest of his days in a five by ten foot cell until his trip to eternal damnation."
• "He and his family, and their families, deserve to be [the] ultimate victims."
• "How dare Ruth Madoff hold onto $62 million and a penthouse with my money, while I go begging for food stamps...Let them try to get food stamps and live in a shelter."
• "The wife's assets should be seized for victim restitution and she should be made to spend the rest of her life playing bingo and eating in a soup kitchen.

The News also has an extensive description of the "hellhole" that Bernie Madoff is being held in. Windows are blacked out, food is slipped through a slit in the door and he has no interaction with guards or other prisoners throughout the day. Members of both the Gambino and Bonanno crime families have been held at the federal prison known as 10 South and both discuss how the conditions are so severe that it almost broke them.

An appeal from Madoff to return to house arrest inside his Park Avenue penthouse was denied in court yesterday.