Investor, economics commentator and former hedge fund operator Martin A. Armstrong spent seven years incarcerated for civil contempt. The former chairman of Princeton Economics International Ltd. would not hand over what a judge wanted. He finally pled guilty to securities fraud in August 2006. On April 10, 2007 he was sentenced.

One month later, while still being held in New York's Metropolitan Correctional Center, Armstrong said in a lawsuit:

"A detainee facing murder charges, Mr. George, deliberately entered Armstrong's cell...and strangled Armstrong from behind, beat him severly (sic) in the head, breaking his nose and damaging his inner ear that affects his balance, reduced the vision in his left eye and may have resulted in a detached retina or serious injury, beat Armstrong also using a typewriter breaking it into pieces causing Armstrong also to lose his upper teeth and then jumped up and down on his chest attempting to cave in his chest breaking several ribs."

Suits & Sentences' note to self: Obey the law.

Armstrong, now serving out his sentence at Fort Dix Federal Correctional Institution, is suing the Bureau of Prisons and, among other things, seeking early release on the grounds that his civil contempt incarceration should be counted toward his criminal sentence.

On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Henry H. Kennedy, Jr. rejected Armstrong's bid for early release-- the latest, it should be said, in a series of lawsuits filed by Armstrong. While Judge Kennedy transferred the underlying complaint against the Bureau of Prisons to U.S. District Court in New York City, he saw no reason to let Armstrong out of prison now. Reasoned the judge:

"Armstrong’s confinement for civil contempt of court was neither (1) the result  of the offense for which the [criminal] sentence was imposed nor (2) the result of any other charge for which the defendant was arrested after the commission of the offense for which the sentence was  imposed. Rather...it stemmed directly from his refusal to produce documents and turnover assets as ordered by  the district court in a civil proceeding."