And The Horse He Rode In On

What I want to know is, why did it take this long for a Bernie Madoff plea to come together, when the Feds had documentary evidence of his crimes and a confession? Especially since there's no plea agreement? The guy has been living under penthouse arrest in his multimillion-dollar apartment in Manhattan for months, able to send out jewelry (and probably cash) to friends and relatives. I guess the hurdle was whether he would agree to be prosecuted without a grand jury indictment, which would take longer, but shouldn't that have been put into motion months ago?

It seems to me that Madoff got an extended furlough from prison for no discernible reason. He will meet his fate soon enough, but something about that is irksome. I don't see low-level liquor store thieves getting to spend 3 months hanging out at their house before sentencing.