THE COURT: On the basis of Mr. Madoff's responses to my questions and my observations of his demeanor, I find that
he is fully competent to enter an informed plea at this time.
Now, Mr. Madoff, before I accept any plea from you I
am going to ask you some additional questions that are intended to satisfy me that you wish to plead guilty because you are
guilty and that you fully understand the consequences of your
plea. If you do not understand any of my questions, please ask
me or Mr. Sorkin to explain. I am going to describe to you certain rights that you have under the Constitution and laws of the United States. You will be giving up these rights if you plead guilty, so please
listen carefully.
Under the Constitution and laws of the United States,
you have a right to a speedy and public trial by a jury on the
charges against you which are contained in the information. If
there were a trial, you would be presumed innocent and the
government would be required to prove your guilt by competent
evidence beyond a reasonable doubt. You would not have to
prove that you were innocent if you were to go to trial.
If there were a trial, you would have the right to be
represented by an attorney. And if you could not afford one,
an attorney would be provided for you free of cost.
If there were a trial, you would have a right to see
and hear all the witnesses against you and your attorney couldcross-examine them. You would have a right to have your
attorney object to the government's evidence and to offer
evidence on your own behalf if you so desired, and you would
have the right to have subpoenas issued or other process used
to compel witnesses to testify in your defense.
If there were a trial, you would have the right to
testify if you wanted to, but no one could force you to testify
if you did not want to. Furthermore, no inference or
suggestion of guilt could be drawn if you chose not to testify
at trial.
Mr. Madoff, do you understand each and every one of
these rights?

THE DEFENDANT: Yes, I do.