ASU2003

Madoff's new home: Cell the size of walk-in closet (AP) - Yahoo! News - Yahoo! Buzz

So, if you were facing life in prison without the possibility of getting out, would you try to run if you got out on bail? Sure the bounty hunters would come after you, and it wouldn't be easy. But, I would have to think that it would be better than living in jail.

Could you survive, do you think you could make it on the run? Would you be able to make it to a country with a non-extridition treaty? Do you trust the people you know enough to not rat you out to 'Dog the bounty hunter'?

Do you have an exit strategy? I'll tell you my ideas tomorrow.

SabrinaFair

I'm of a guilty conscience, so I see myself having too much remorse to flee.

Assuming for argument that I did escape, I'd be lookin' to get myself somewhere without extradition. I'd probably not risk contacting anyone from my old life, and make a new go of it. (I love my friends, but they talk too much, it would be straight back to jail for me) So yeah, I'd definitely make a new life in some place with a tropical climate and no extradition treaty.

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"With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy."
-Desiderata

Martian

Disappearing isn't terribly difficult. Disappearing and taking your ill-gotten gains with you is harder, but still manageable if you've prepared sufficiently beforehand.

I am beholden to my own personal code of ethics, which would make fleeing such a situation problematic for me. When in the past I have been faced with the choice of making more money or violating said ethical code, I have turned the money down. Some would say this is foolish, but I value my sleep. I don't think I'd be able to live with myself if I fled after being caught in such a situation, but then I suppose ethical people don't find themselves in such situations to begin with.

SabrinaFair has the right idea. If you want to vanish, you have to forego all contact with former friends or family. There's too much risk involved.

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I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept
I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept
I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head
I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said

- Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame

Willravel

If I believed myself to be guilty, no I'd not run. If I had done something like what Bernie Madoff had done, I'd probably either kill myself or pull a Stanley "Tookie" Williams and speak out against wall street corruption.

If I thought I were innocent, though, I'd probably run. I love the justice system, I find it fascinating and I believe that it can find justice, but I'd probably run. I'd go inland to the Rockys and then South to Mexico. I'd probably starve, but I'd rather give it the old college try instead of prison for life.

dlish

i think its more of a crime to escape from prison than to escape while on bail. so i'll take my chances on the outside and run.

if i was remorseful, then i might stay..but if i was facing death sentence, then i'd run

god i love the show prisonbreak

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An injustice anywhere, is an injustice everywhere

I always sign my facebook comments with ()()===========(}. Does that make me gay?
- Filthy

kurty[B]

The book Papillon comes to mind.

If it was life with no chance of parole. I'd run. Change my appearance, grab what cash I could and disappear for all intensive purposes.

Chance of parole. I'd serve my time with as good of behaviour as possible, and hope to see the outside someday.

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In the Absence of Information People Make Things Up.

highthief

I wouldn't be surprised if he offed himself before going to real prison.

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Si vis pacem parabellum.

Tully Mars

Yeah, I think a few day of jail will be a shock to his system. I Could see him taking a sheet out. Of course that gives him the benefit of the doubt that he's capable of offing himself. Wouldn't doubt he asked for a wake-up call and a menu for breakfast. Plus they're going to have seg him so he'll likely be in a cell 23 hrs a day. Hell he may only get one hour out every other day. This will simply be beyond his comprehension of how life works.

If he doesn't do himself in I think the "life" will be hard on him and his days are numbered either way. I look for his legal team to argue that jail is too hard on his health and he needs to be in a hospital or home.

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I used to drink to drown my sorrows, but the damned things have learned how to swim- Frida Kahlo

Vice President Starkizzer Fan Club

Manic_Skafe

You never know, he may just see this as a chance to do some light reading, maybe hit the weights - sharpen his rape aversion techniques.

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"Porn is a zoo of exotic animals that becomes boring upon ownership." -Nersesian

FuglyStick

If I was guilty, my conscience would probably keep me from trying to make a run for it. But my conscience would also keep me out of doing anything that would warrant a life sentence.

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AZIZ! LIGHT!

Redjake

I'd run. As long as someone like Sam Gerard from The Fugitive doesn't go after me, I think I would have a good chance.

BadNick

I'm finding it impossible to logically consider whether I'd run or not, since I would never have done what he did in the first place.

So if I imagine what mentality and low morals a person would need to do this kind of thing, I think that person would be very capable of running, even most likely to do so, and I'd also be highly suspicious that he's already laid out an "exit strategy" including hidden resources. Now that I put it that way, I know that's what I would have done if I was as low of a scumbag as he is. There are plenty of places to "hide"...look how long it took to find some of the Nazi war criminals...some have still not been found.

Iliftrocks

I'd run. Rather die than live cooped up like that. But, I don't believe I'd steal either.

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bill hicks - "I don't mean to sound bitter, cold, or cruel, but I am, so that's how it comes out."

f6twister

Tough choice. I'm torn betwen getting to see my kids without bars & guards around me and setting a good example by owning up to my crime and dealing with my punishment.

I guess if I did something stupid enough to get life in prison, I would stay. I know I would get tired of running and looking over my shoulder the rest of my life.

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A little rudeness and disrespect can elevate a meaningless interaction to a battle of wills and add drama to an otherwise dull day. Calvin

Tully Mars

Man, that's just harsh. Funny, true... but harsh.

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I used to drink to drown my sorrows, but the damned things have learned how to swim- Frida Kahlo

Vice President Starkizzer Fan Club

telekinetic

I would run if I could take my family with me. I've always wanted to be on Amazing Race...

Being a nerd who watches too many spy movies, I've thought about crafting backup identities for the whole family in case anything ever blows up in my face, but seeing as the act of getting all those documents fabricated itself could be the thing that blows up, I've always held off.

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twisted no more

highthief

I'm pretty sure that, in Berbie's case, if he'd wanted to set a good moral example to his family, he might have started a few decades ago. Stealing billions of dollars probably ruins his chances of becoming a model parent.

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Si vis pacem parabellum.

Xerxys

Hell Yeah I would run. I don't think I would ever end up in prison anyway biut for any means or purposes ..... screw it all. I would love the constant chase. Cherish the action and get thrilled by the attraction it brings both negative and otherwise. Screw it all. I would run. F-YOU MR. MAN!!!!!!

Telluride

Could I flee justice and survive on the run? Sure.

But, thankfully, I'd never be in that situation because I would never do what Mr. Madoff did.

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"I am certain that nothing has done so much to destroy the safeguards of individual freedom as the striving after this mirage of social justice." - Friedrich Hayek

KellyC

Guilty or not, I'd run if I could. Even though I may be chased relentlessly, at least I'm outside.

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Him: Ok, I have to ask, what do you believe?
Me: Shit happens.

genuinegirly

I would stay in prison.
Free food. Free shelter. Free library.
Not that different from an all-expense paid university environment, save the bloodthirsty freaks. I'd hope the guards could keep me safe from the other prisoners.

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"Sometimes I have to remember that things are brought to me for a reason, either for my own lessons or for the benefit of others." Cynthetiq

"violence is no more or less real than non-violence." roachboy

Strange Famous

Yes, of course.

But I cant really connect to that scenario, a life sentence with no parole (for a whole life tarrif - in the UK - you would have to have committed a really disgusting murder) just wouldnt relate to anything I could see myself involved in.

I mean, it really is only for serial killers and people like that. Anyone else has a chance of getting out. Its not legal to hold someone more than 30 years unless - as mentioned above, youre a serial killer or committed as criminally insane or something.

But if I lived in a state where fraud could mean a whole life tarrif - yeah I'd jump bail. If i had the kind of dough that this guy has they wouldnt catch me either.

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"Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate,
for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing
hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain
without being uncovered."

The Gospel of Thomas

dksuddeth

any question of 'am i committing a crime' should not even be asked. madoff knew what he was doing was wrong.

so, if I was in his shoes, I would NOT have 'hoped' I would never be caught. I would have planned on my scheme eventually failing and me being found out, so I would have had contingency plans set up for just that eventuality.

would I run? damn skippy.

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"no amount of force can control a free man, a man whose mind is free. No, not the rack, not fission bombs, not anything. You cannot conquer a free man; the most you can do is kill him."

cdwonderful

with the right money, yes. as fast and as far as I could Darjeeling perhaps....

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Never try to teach a pig to whistle
it wastes your time,
and annoys the pig.....

Fire

I find it amazing that the man stole billions and did not have a get out of dodge plan- seriously, statistically, most people that pursue ongoing criminal activities get caught... sell drugs, and sooner or later, they will figure it out- part of the problem being that selling drugs, fencing stolen goods, running numbers, etc, all require the help of a group of criminals, and sooner or later the chain of loyalty breaks and then you get strangled with it... apparently, this guy had a hell of a lot of impunity to do what ever he liked, and yet apparently NEVER had a bailout plan? And lectured on how it was impossible to do JUST WHAT HE WAS DOING and not get caught... seems that while he may have been a "wizard of wallstreet" he did not really think it through, or had a self sabotage complex..... So If it was me, then I suppose all this leads me back to why I have never been part of a criminal enterprise, that being that it is simply too hard to not get caught before you can make enough money to skip town and live comfortably for the rest of ones life somewhere tropical.... so if I were for some reason stupid enough to get involved in some scheme that could send me to a very small room for a very long time, I would hope that I would at least be bright enough to have a LARGE contingency fund sitting somewhere offshore, and would of course run if that were the case.... hell, if guilty, I would probably still run, as it would be better than prison.... but if I were innocent it would depend on my honest belief in whether I would be found innocent or not.....

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Thought the harder, Heart the bolder,
Mood the more as our might lessens