Bernard Madoff To Spend The Rest Of His Life Behind Bars

Finally, our criminal justice system gives us a vote of confidence:

Accused investment swindler Bernard L. Madoff will plead guilty later this week to 11 counts that could bring a sentence of 150 years in prison, one of his attorneys told CNN.

Prosecutors stressed that there is no plea deal and that Madoff, 70, will have to forfeit any money he made from his crimes.

"The government has not entered into any agreement with Mr. Madoff about his plea or sentencing," said acting U.S. Attorney Lev L. Dassin. "The filing of these charges does not end the matter. Our investigation is continuing."

Madoff attorney Ira Lee Sorkin said his client has agreed to plead guilty to crimes including money laundering, perjury and fraud.

Earlier, Sorkin and defense attorney Daniel Horowitz told CNN that Madoff was waiving his right to a grand jury indictment and that the defense team had been talking about a plea with government attorneys.

"We obviously have talked to the government," said Horowitz. "And we have been professional with each other."

Madoff is a former chairman of the NASDAQ stock market and founder of an innovative Wall Street trading firm that electronically matched buy and sell orders. He is accused of running a massive fraud, allegedly using new investment money from clients to fund other customers' apparent gains.

It was, "basically, a giant Ponzi scheme," Madoff said, according to the government's criminal complaint.

Madoff's pleading guilty to 11 counts of fraud, perjury and money laundering. Since these are federal crimes, Madoff will most likely die in prison, and rightly so considering the many livelihoods of people who invested their money and faith in him that he ruined. The man is scum, now let him rot.