How Madoff, admitted swindler, escapes jail term once again

The clock ticked toward the moment when US Magistrate Judge Ronald Ellis would say whether he would now - finally! - toss Bernard Madoff in jail.

In a corner of its screen on Monday, CNBC showed the minutes, the seconds, until Ellis would rule. Reporters and cameras clogged the front of Madoff's apartment building and covered the service entrance, too. A rumor that he was already at the federal courthouse aired.

It's hard to name a more despised private citizen alive today than Madoff. (Rod Blagojevich isn't a private citizen.) Once deeply admired, the man admitted - admitted! - he cheated thousands of trusting suckers out of $50 billion, according to the feds.