Now, a decade into his time, at the age of 81, Madoff is seeking to have his sentence commuted by President Donald Trump. He has filed a petition for clemency with the Justice Department, according to its website.
It was not clear when Madoff filed his petition or what arguments he is making for the request. The department’s website said information in its online clemency database was last updated July 1 and that Madoff’s request was still pending on that date.
Petitions for clemency, which include pardons and sentence commutations, are sent to the Office of the Pardon Attorney in the Justice Department. The office reviews petitions and makes recommendations on their merits to the president, who has constitutional authority to grant pardons and make final decisions on cases.
As president, Trump has increasingly wielded pardons as a way to push back against a justice system he frequently has called unfair.
It was not clear whether Trump would consider Madoff’s application for clemency. Years before he became president, Trump expressed contempt for Madoff in an interview with The New York Times Magazine in 2009.
Madoff’s former lawyer, Ira Lee Sorkin, who represented Madoff during his criminal case, said he had no information about the clemency request. He did not know if another attorney had assisted Madoff with his petition.
Madoff has been incarcerated at a federal prison in Butner, North Carolina, since July 2009, after he pleaded guilty to 11 counts of financial crimes, including fraud, money laundering, perjury and theft. He received the maximum possible sentence.
Less than a year into his sentence, Madoff was moved to a low-security medical center at the prison complex, where he is currently located, according to online Bureau of Prisons records.
The Bureau of Prisons, cutting time off Madoff’s sentence for good behavior, gave him a projected release date of Nov. 14, 2139, when he would be 201 years old.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.