Madoff "Distraught" In Prison (His Ankles Look Swollen, Too)

Here's another update about Bernard Madoff's condition in federal prison, courtesy of the lawyers representing the investment faker's victims. Only this update paints a less rosy picture; while attorney Joseph Cotchett told ABC News, "[Madoff] looked pretty good and seems to be working out. He looked a lot better than he has in some months since I've seen photographs of him," today Cotchett told the CBS Early Show, "Look, it's a prison. He's suffering the immediate throes of being thrust into this. It's a new world to him. It's not pleasant, as it shouldn't be. The man is distraught." That sounds about right, but Madoff has time to adjust.

Cotchett's associate Nancy Fineman added that Madoff has high blood pressure and that his ankles seemed swollen, "I think it hasn't quite hit him completely. He's having a hard time coming to grips." Yet he's a celebrity at the Butner Federal Correction Complex: Fineman said, "According to him [inmates] constantly asking him for autographs. He's the biggest swindler in the country thrust in with a lot of people that have never seen the kind of money he was in touch with every day."

In other Madoff news, his wife Ruth is the target of a $44+ million lawsuit from the trustee trying to secure funds for the victims. While Ruth Madoff has settled with the feds and was allowed to keep $2.5 million, trustee Irving Picard points out she benefitted from her husband's fraud (he pointed out millions went from the investment firm to her account) and lived "life of splendor." Picard said, "The inequity between Mrs. Madoff’s continuing financial advantages and the economic distress of Madoff’s customers compels the trustee to bring this action.”