Area Man Charged With Selling Madoff's Prison ID
STREAMWOOD, Ill. (STMW) -- A Streamwood man has been arrested by a federal agent for allegedly selling celebrity con man Bernie Madoff's prison identification card through eBay, police said.
Local police said David J. Fisk, 43, of the 100 block of Crestwood Drive in Streamwood, was charged with theft by possession of stolen property after an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice.
According to police reports, the case came to light last October when officials from the Federal Bureau of Prisons noticed that someone had bought the ID card on eBay from a seller whose eBay user name was "windycitystang." Bureau of Prisons officials said federal prison ID cards are the property of the federal government and not allowed to leave the prison.
Special Agent Russell Cunningham of the Justice Department told Streamwood police that he subpoenaed eBay to provide the real name of windycitystang and found out that person is Fisk. The online company said the ID card had been bought by someone who lives in Thailand.
Cunningham told police that Fisk had served a prison sentence in the federal corrections center in Butler, N.C., the same prison where Madoff is serving time for stealing millions through a Ponzi-scheme investment fraud. Fisk was released last July 30 and then moved to Streamwood.
Police said they questioned Fisk last week at the village police station and he told them he had obtained the ID card from another inmate at Butler who owed him money. Police said Fisk told them he sold the card last fall for about $200.
Fisk was released on bond pending a March 23 court hearing.
--Elgin Courier-News, via the Sun-Times Media Wire
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2011. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
