Bernie Madoff Wishes He Hadn’t Pleaded Guilty

Bernie Madoff is sitting in jail wishing he hadn’t pleaded guilty.

In a series of emails to CNBC, Madoff, who is serving a life sentence in jail for fraud, said that he’s frustrated that he’s not getting credit for helping to return money to his victims. He is so frustrated by this that he wishes he had never pleaded guilty to stealing all that money he is now returning in the first place.

This week, court-appointed trustee Irving Picard has been trying to get court approval for another distribution of funds to Madoff’s victims. But he says that Madoff hasn’t been very helpful in righting his wrongs.

“In my view, he has not been helpful,” Picard said.

But Madoff is frustrated with Picard’s claims.

“This is a man that keeps making statements that have no facts to back them up,” Madoff wrote. “I wish I went to trial and he would have been required to provide the evidence he claims he has. As you can see, I am frustrated.”

Madoff says that he deserves credit for returning more than half of his clients’ initial investments, as well as why all of the $17.5 billion in lost principal could be paid back.

“From the day of my arrest I offered to assist in recovering the investment principal of my customers. I stated that I was confident that I would be able to convince those parties that were complicit in creating my financial problems, to return the money they withdrew from the investment advisory side of my firm,” Madoff writes.

“Those parties were well aware of the incriminating evidence I possessed about their complicit activity and wisely came forward with settlements. It was my belief that it was more important to use the evidence I had to pressure the complicit parties to settle, rather than to use this information for a lesser prison sentence for myself. As remorseful as I am for the pain and suffering I have shamefully caused, I take some comfort in the fact that my assistance will in fact accomplish what I have originally claimed, that with my assistance all of my customers will recover their original investment principal.”

Do you think Bernie Madoff got what he deserved, or should we give him the credit for returning his clients’ fraudulent investment principal?