Con-artist Bernie Madoff, the man behind the largest ponzi scheme in U.S. history pleaded guilty today. Earlier today Madoff appeared before U.S. District Judge Denny Chin in Manhattan to plead guilty to to 11 counts including securities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering.

Bloomberg reported :

Source : http://www.bloomberg.com

Madoff told Judge Chin that back in the early 1990s, when the United States was in a financial recession, he felt “compelled’” to provide the kind of returns he promised his investors. He said when the Securities and Exchange Commission asked about it and he lied directly to the SEC.

Madoff’s guilty plea shows the downfall of a highly acclaimed money manager who told the world his fortune came from a successful firm that specialized in making markets, trading securities and financially advising wealthy clients.

Official sentencing for Bernie Madoff is set for June 16th.

The poor economy has one Cedar Park, Texas family on the Ebay auction block and looking for the highest bidder. The father of the family was recently laid off from his job and he has come up with a novel idea to put food on the table for his wife and kids.

Here is a bit of the details from the family auction page :

Don’t believe it? See the auction page for yourself : Family of Four on eBay

I’m sure by now everybody has heard about the picture of Olympic swimming superstar Michael Phelps smoking a marijuana bong. Big scandal, a 23 year old kid smoking weed at a college party. Considering the strength of Phelps’ performance during last summer’s Olympics, it’s safe to say that Phelps isn’t some strung out junkie stealing from friends and family to support a drug habit.

Phelps’ sponsors, who range from apparel company Speedo to luxury Swiss watchmaker Omega, have issued statements calling the picture a “non-issue”. The International Olympic Committee accepted his apology, stating “We have no reason to doubt his sincerity and his commitment to continue to act as a role model”. Even at the University of South Carolina, where Phelps was visiting when the infamous picture was taken, both students and faculty have shrugged off the controversy.

So why does Richland County sheriff Leon Lott want to charge Michael Phelps for posession of marijuana? A misdemeanour, punishable by up to 30 days in jail or a $570 fine, plus court costs.

“This case is no different than any other case,” Lott said yesterday. “This one might be a lot easier since we have photographs of someone using drugs and a partial confession. It’s a relatively easy case once we can determine where the crime occurred.”

The general consensus from bloggers is that Sheriff Leon Lott is grandstanding, looking for a piece of fame at Phelps’ expense.

Ryan Davis dug up some interesting dirt on Sherrif Leon Lott…

My only question about Sherrif Leon Lott is, “what the heck is he smoking?”

Seriously, what’s wrong with this guy that he’s trying to make a name for himself over something so stupid as trying to arrest Michael Phelps and make an example of him? It’s gross miscarriages of justice such as this that make the average American cringe with disbelief that we live in an educated society.

Maybe Sherrif Lott and start a campaign to have everyone who admitted to smoking marijuana extradited to South Carolina to face prossection. Let’s see Sherrif Lott could go after Santonio Holmes, Ricky Williams, even Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.

In an unrelated incedent, Sherrif Lott has made some very targeted comments…

It seems that is Sherrif Lott is having such a big problem with crackheads in his county, he might not need to take time out of his busy schedule to investigate when and where Phelps committed the alleged bong smoking.