Finally, the federal government has accepted an offer from Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis. Earlier this year, the feds turned down his request for bailout money, but the filmmaker entrepreneur executive soft-core porn guru had better luck with the judiciary branch. His deal to get out of jail came through.

U.S. District Judge S. James Otero accepted a plea agreement that Francis reached with prosecutors. It will put him on probation for the next year for filing false income tax returns. He was also sentenced to time served -- 301 days, but that's all in the past. He also has to pay restitution of $250,000.

Another player in the Bernie Madoff saga has fallen. His longtime auditor, David Friehling, pleaded guilty in federal court on Tuesday to charges of securities fraud, investment adviser fraud, making false filings with the SEC, and obstructing or impeding the administration of the Internal Revenue laws (among others).

Despite the plea, Friehling still told U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein, "At no time was I ever aware Bernard Madoff was engaged in a Ponzi scheme."

Raj Rajaratnam's life has just changed profoundly. The 52-year-old founder, fund manager, and partner at the Galleon Group has been accused of insider trading, conspiring with others (now named as defendants with him) to trade shares of Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), Hilton (OTC: HLNQ), and Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ: JAVA), among others. Rajaratnam generated $25 million in profits on these trades, but that's moot now.

Rajaratnam, who is #559 on the list of the world's richest people, with a net worth of $1.3 billion, now faces fines of up to $250,000 and from 5 to 20 years in prison. I doubt he'll be in the same slot on next year's list of billionaires.

Allen Stanford gets kicked around, but Bernie Madoff can clearly throw down some serious smack. While the former's being moved from one facility to another because he's lost some ground on the cell block, Madoff just earned himself some props.

The engineer of the largest (known) Ponzi scheme in history apparently got into an argument with another geriatric inmate at the Butner, North Carolina federal prison. Of course, it was over the stock market. Does it really make sense to outmaneuver a guy who never needed to know what the market was doing to deliver double-digit returns?

Well, push came to shove, as they say, with the "attacker" stumbling and looking up at a mean, mean Madoff. He got up and ran off.

R. Allen Stanford, accused Ponzi schemer, is about to get a new home. Following a fight at Joe Corley Detention Facility just north of Houston, Tex., a judge has ordered that he be moved to a facility in downtown Houston.

The order doesn't seem to be linked to the altercation that occurred last Thursday. Rather, it's to facilitate Stanford's meetings with his court-appointed attorney, Kent Schaffer.

Albert Gonzalez faced the music in a U.S. District Court in Boston on Friday, pleading guilty to masterminding one of the biggest cases of identity theft in history. The deal he struck with prosecutors could have him turning big rocks into little ones for up to a quarter of a century.

The Miami resident compromised the computer systems of large, high-profile retailers, including TJX (NYSE: TJX), BJ's Wholesale Club (NYSE: BJ), OfficeMax (NYSE: OMX), Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS) and Sports Authority. Tens of millions of credit card numbers were swiped in this scheme, leading to 19 counts of conspiracy, computer fraud, wire fraud, access device fraud and aggravated identity theft -- if there are other charges ... well, you get the point.

Bernie Madoff's long-time go-to guy, Frank DiPascali, isn't trying to beat the system any more. He has decided to plead guilty to criminal charges spanning more than two decades.

DiPascali is the first of Madoff's employees to be charged. Aside from Madoff, the only other person greeted by the criminal justice system has been outside auditor David Friehling, who isn't going as easily as DiPascali (he's pled not guilty).

If all goes as planned, DiPascali will plead guilty in U.S. District Court on Monday at 3 PM. For now, everyone's remaining tight-lipped, and the terms have not yet been revealed.

Bernie Madoff, the mastermind behind the world's largest ever Ponzi scheme, arrived at a federal prison in North Carolina to begin serving his 150 year prison sentence.

It will be hard to find anyone sympathetic to the 71 year old investor who will be spending the rest of his life behind bars. We still do not know if Madoff will serve out all of his time at the federal prison in Butner, North Carolina, but for now that is where he can call home.