Frank DiPascali, the longtime employee of Bernard Madoff (Bernard Madoff news) who rose to be his chief financial officer (CFO news), faces up to 125 years in prison, but "it is likely his cooperation will result in an extraordinary letter" justifying a lower sentence, according to the 10-page letter to U.S. District Judge Richard Sullivan, dated Dec. 14, 2009.

Reuters notes that this in itself is an extraordinary move. So the government must feel that it has gotten a lot out of DiPascali. Obviously, the man knew a lot and he was one of the few to sing about the criminal enterprise. Madoff himself, as you know, has stuck to his personal code of omerta, for which he has won "props" in prison, apparently. 

I doubt this will be enough to spare DiPascali prison time. It remains to be seen how the Madoff victims will feel about this. For now, he is out of jail. A judge okayed his relief after denying him bail back in August in a move that shocked him and the prosecution. You do get the feeling that he's the only insider cooperating to a massive extent. Certainly that's a bad spot for the government. You never want a single source.

For more:
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