Washington, Feb 6 (IANS): American Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff, who pleaded guilty to 11 financial crimes in 2009, has sought an early release from his 150-year prison sentence, saying he was dying of kidney failure, it was reported.

Speaking to The Washington Post on Wednesday via phone, Madoff, 81, said that he was in the end stages of kidney disease, Xinhua news agency reported.

"I'm terminally ill," he said.

"I've served. I've served 11 years already, and, quite frankly, I've suffered through it."

Madoff was arrested in December 2008 for running a multi-billion-dollar Ponzi scheme -- an investment fraud promising high returns, with early investors paid off with money from later ones.

The financial swindler has been serving his sentence in a federal prison in Butner, North Carolina, since July 2009, after he committed crimes including fraud, money laundering and perjury.

While sentencing him, the Judge called his crimes "extraordinarily evil".

At least four people connected to Madoff, including his son, have committed suicide.

In July 2019, he filed a request with the US Department of Justice, seeking to shorten his sentence and "finish his life in freedom".