Bernie Madoff, in his first interview from the bowels of a prison, told a lawyer threatening to sue his wife, "There were several times that I met with the SEC and thought 'They got me,'" ABC's Brian Ross and Kate McCarthy are reporting. Lots more from the NY Post here.

Adding to the shock of that candid admission was the fact that Bernie, like other lifers, has apparently been working out and is the buffest septuagenarian in the North Carolina hoosegow.

The lawyer, Joseph Cotchett, got the interview after threatening to sue Madoff's wife, Ruth, his sons and brother Peter. Add Cotchett: "He cares about Ruth, but he doesn't give a ---- about his two sons, Mark and Andrew."

Yes, he can't believe he got away with it. Of course, he really didn't. Don't think for a minute that it was his conscience that drove him to confess last December to his sons. With the market plunging late last year, he knew the jig was up. There was no way that he could keep reporting healthy returns to his clients.