Scruggs in 8th swankiest prison
Located in the northeastern corner of Kentucky, FCI Ashland has a history of housing high-profile inmates. Mystery writer Dashiell Hammett spent several months here in the early 1950s after being found in contempt of court for refusing to testify about alleged Communist activities. More recently it’s been home to plaintiff super-lawyer Richard “Dickie” Scruggs of Mississippi, who won billions of dollars from the tobacco industry in the 1990s only to be sentenced to prison last year for bribing a judge. Scruggs had asked to be sent to FPC Pensacola.
It’s looking like a lifetime sentence at one of the nation’s cushiest prisons for world-class fraudster Bernard Madoff. The record-setting scammer is reportedly on his way to the Federal Correctional Complex at Butner, N.C. It’s no Club Fed–the U.S. Bureau of Prisons’ minimum-security camps, which are the easiest places to do federal time, are only for offenders with 10 years or less on their sentences. Bernie’s is for 150.
But Madoff shouldn’t be too despondent. Neither should Marc Dreier, the swindling super lawyer who was handed a 20-year fraud sentence on July 13. Prison camps have always been white-collar convicts’ destination of choice, but even fraudsters with long sentences can find ways to make doing time easier–and to avoid sharing a cell with an ax murderer.
Forbes
7/18/9
Magnolia Tribune
