[ by Melanie Gretchen ] The "mini Madoff" has paid his final debt to society.  Convicted Ponzi schemer Arthur Nadel - dubbed "Mini Madoff when he was arrested in 2009, about a month after Madoff's fraud came to light - no doubt set a precedent for Madoff himself, by dieing in prison while serving his term for the Ponzi scheme. Nadel, who was 80 years of age, was serving a 14 year sentence for having run a $168 million fraud - peanuts compared to the 150-year sentence Madoff received for his $20 billion scheme.  [C-I Note: Of course, $168 million isn't peanuts, but it doesn't begin to approach the Ponzi scheme conducted by Allen Stanford, who was convicted of conducting a $7 billion Ponzi scheme, but still awaits sentencing.  When all the dust settles, Stanford is likely to get a very long sentence - in which case he's likely to die in prison, as well, either from natural causes or from injuries sustained in fights with fellow inmates.] And, just as Madoff turned himself in and pleaded guilty without a jury trial, Nadel accepted responsibility for his crimes.  Nadel, who was sentenced October 2010, said the following at his sentencing hearing:  "I blame no one but myself for my actions.  I have been my own worst enemy.  I have thrown away everything worth living for." He died in the Butner Federal Correctional Complex in North Carolina, where Madoff is serving his time, and where Stanford had been prior to his recent trial that was held in Houston, TX. Unlike Madoff, however, Nadel suffered from a "serious cardiac condition" and a urological condition, according to his lawyer at the time of his sentencing.  At that point int time, his life expectancy was viewed at about 5 years.  Mark Gombiner, Nadel's court-appointed lawyer, had this to say after learning Nadel had died:  "Dying in prison is a very hard and lonely way to exit this life.  He had a troubled past, but he did ultimately come to accept responsibility for what he had done wrong.  He faced his punishment with dignity." For further details, go to [WSJ, 4/18/12].