Turns out he’s in the process of redeeming himself. Alexandra Penny explains at the Daily Beast:

By not entering into a plea bargain, he’s saved his dirty secrets and implicated none of the others who helped him scheme and steal. He’s also “saved” sweet, innocent little Ruthie and his sons, brother, grandchildren, et al. — a whole slew of his skanky relatives. … This is a magnanimous gesture [especially for someone who is] given to. . . sociopathic selfishness to exponential extremes.

(If you’re wondering about the tone of Ms. Penny’s writing, she’s among those Madoff wiped out.)

Still it’s questionable whether he’ll be able to protect his family, who seem increasingly complicit. Lucinda Franks, also in the Daily Beast, writes:

Ruth Madoff, who was considered “innocent at first,” according to this source, is believed to have received at least $70 million from her husband and is now therefore an object of the investigation. … One source said that eventually, some members of Madoff’s family will either be indicted by the US attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York or cop a plea.

Nevertheless, don’t his attempts to protect his family make you think he might not be such a bad guy after all? All things considered, maybe he was just trying too hard to be a benefactor to his people. So what if he skimmed a few dozen billion off on the side? It was all the interest of fortifying his family’s estate.

Turns out though, he likely had little chance of copping a plea anyway. Bloomberg.com reports:

The absence of a plea bargain is “unusual,” said Richard Strassberg, a lawyer with Goodwin Procter LLP in New York. He said the government probably didn’t offer a deal.

“If that’s what happened, the government viewed the scope of the conduct to be so egregious that a plea deal wasn’t warranted,”. . .

It looks like he might be seeing the last of his penthouse today — a judge may revoke his bail today. In that same hearing, writes Richard Wray at the Guardian:

His victims are being given the opportunity to address the court. Normally victim’s statements are heard at the time of sentencing [but] the judge has said that he will allow further representations to be made at that time.

[Judge] Denny Chin urged investors to bear in mind where they are when they give their statements and try to avoid unleashing their anger.

“I understand that emotions are high but we have to remember to conduct ourselves in the manner that is appropriate to a courtroom proceeding,” he said.

Should Ms. Penny show up, let’s hope she makes it through the hearing without a contempt of court charge.

Errata: The only article that gives you a glimpse into the man’s psyche is Madoff’s World by Mark Seal in the new issue of Vanity Fair.

Meanwhile, we can expect to see a ratcheting up in intensity of Ms. Penny’s already edgy doll art. (Since the images are small, you’ll need to blow them up. Pun intended — you’ll see what I mean.)