Bernie Madoff Barred From Son's Funeral Over Prison Rules

By: Rob Adams
Staff Writer
Published: Dec 13, 2021

Bernie Madoff Barred

Bernie Madoff barred from son's funeral over prison rules. Bernie Madoff could be barred from his son's funeral, according to prison rules. His son Mark was found dead in the living room of his downtown Manhattan apartment Saturday morning.

Madoff's son was hanging from a black dog leash on the two-year anniversary of his father's arrest. Now, Bernie might be barred from Mark's funeral because the Inmate Handbook states that only inmates serving a two year or less sentence can attend family funerals. "Furloughs are a privilege, not a right, and are only granted when clearly in the public interest," the handbook says.

A white-collar felon typically can receive an emergency furlough to attend a funeral, said Ed Bales, managing director of Federal Prisons Consultants, "but this is a whole different ballgame." "I would question whether they'd grant him a furlough because of heightened publicity," Bales said. "He could be a target. He could be shot." If Madoff is granted permission, he'd be escorted by federal marshals, paid for by his family.

Officers were called to Mark Madoff's SoHo residence about 7:30 a.m. after his father-in-law reported finding the 46-year-old hanging fully clothed from a pipe in the apartment ceiling, police said. His two-year-old son Nicholas was sleeping in a nearby bedroom and was unharmed, as was Grouper, their labradoodle. People close to him said he was despondent over press coverage of his father's case, an ongoing criminal investigation of family members in the multibillion-dollar scheme and his struggle to rebuild his life.