He's headed to Butner, N.C. for a sentence of 150 years, CNBC is reporting. The federal facility houses about 3,400 inmates, among them Omar Abdel-Rahman, the blind terrorist who masterminded the 93 World Trade Center bombing, John Rigas, the former Adelphia CEO; and Jonathan Pollard, former Naval Intelligence Analyst and convicted spy for Israel.

Madoff will find himself earning pennies a day sweeping floors, cleaning toilets or manning a stove in the prison kitchen. Like all prisoners, corrections officers will shine a light in his face twice in the middle of the night as part of six or seven daily checks. "One of the most difficult things to deal with in prison is the reality that you are powerless," said Jonathan Richards, author of "Federal Prison - A Comprehensive Survival Guide," who served time in a Federal Medical Center, which is similar to a low-security prison. "Your whole life you basically eat when you want to eat, sleep when you want to sleep, wear what you want to wear. Then, suddenly, this daily freedom is taken away."