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Sunday, November 8, 
8:10 am

Madoff gets the max

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madoff,bernard125x100.jpgJudge Denny Chin threw the book at disgraced financier Bernard Madoff and Monday sentenced the self-confessed swindler to 150 years in jail.

According to televised reports, cheers and applause came from the courtroom as Madoff stood facing the judge with his hands clasped in front of him.

Ira Sorkin, Madoff's defense attorney, argued for a 12-year sentence, but Madoff's victims urged Chin to impose the stiffest of penalties.

Chin pushed aside assertions of remorse and rejected the suggestion from Madoff's lawyers that there was a sense of "mob vengeance" surrounding calls for a long prison term.

"Objectively speaking, the fraud here was staggering," the judge said. "It spanned more than 20 years."

American Lawyer magazine has been live blogging the sentencing. Madoff's statement to the judge:

"Your Honor, I cannot offer you an excuse for my behavior. How do you excuse lying and deceiving thousands of investors. How do excuse lying and deceiving over 200 employees. How do you excuse lying and deceiving a wife of 50 years, who still stands by you.

"There's no excuse for that, and I don't seek any forgiveness. I live in an almost tormented state now thinking about all of the pain and suffering I've created. I've left a legacy of shame to my family and my grandchildren. That's something I will live with for the rest of my life.

"People have accused me of being silent and not being sympathetic. That is not true. ... My wife cries herself to sleep at night thinking of all the pain and suffering I've caused. She has been advised by my attorneys not to speak, but today she will make a statement. I'd like you all to listen to it.

"But apologizing ... is not enough. You should know I feel sorry for everything that I've done. [This] is a horrible thing to live with. But there is nothing that I can do that will make your lives better."

Madoff then reportedly turned and faced the victims in the courtroom while saying those last few words. After he stopped speaking, he continued to look at them quietly for the next few seconds.

After the sentencing, victims interviewed on CNBC asked the district attorney of New York and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to continue a much more thorough investigation of the feeder funds and others who worked with Madoff. - Donna Block

See coverage from AmLaw blog

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Comments

From: John M. Gerena ,

Madoff will be getting out of jail when he is 220 years old. When he gets out he plans to get into real estate down in the Everglades.


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