Bernard Madoff gets maximum 150 years in prison

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NEW YORK — Convicted swindler Bernard Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison Monday for fraud so extensive that the judge said he needed to send a symbolic message to those who might imitate his fraud and to victims who need relief.

Applause broke out in the crowded Manhattan courtroom after U.S. District Judge Denny Chin issued the maximum sentence to the 71-year-old defendant, who said he sought no forgiveness and knew he must live “with this pain, this torment, for the rest of my life.”

Judge Chin rejected a request by Madoff’s lawyer for leniency and said he disagreed that victims of the fraud were seeking mob vengeance.

“Here the message must be sent that Mr. Madoff’s crimes were extraordinarily evil and that this kind of manipulation of the system is not just a bloodless crime that takes place on paper, but one instead that takes a staggering toll,” Judge Chin said.

The judge said the estimate that Madoff has cost his victims more than $13 billion was conservative because it did not include money from feeder funds.

“Objectively speaking, the fraud here was staggering,” he said.

Before Judge Chin announced the sentence, Madoff, wearing a dark suit, white shirt and a tie, sat and listened as emotional witnesses described how he spoiled their security.

“Life has been a living hell. It feels like the nightmare we can’t wake from,” Carla Hirshhorn said.

“He stole from the rich. He stole from the poor. He stole from the in between. He had no values,” Tom Fitzmaurice said. “He cheated his victims out of their money so he and his wife Ruth could live a life of luxury beyond belief.”

Dominic Ambrosino called it an “indescribably heinous crime” and urged a long prison sentence so Madoff “will know he is imprisoned in much the same way he imprisoned us and others.”

He added: “In a sense, I would like somebody in the court today to tell me how long is my sentence.”

“The sheer scale of the fraud calls for severe punishment,” the prosecutors wrote.

The jailed Madoff already has taken a severe financial hit: Last week, a judge issued a preliminary $171 billion forfeiture order stripping Madoff of all his personal property, including real estate, investments and $80 million in assets his wife, Ruth, had claimed were hers. The order left her with $2.5 million.

The terms require the Madoffs to sell a $7 million Manhattan apartment where Mrs. Madoff still lives. An $11 million estate in Palm Beach, Fla., a $4 million home in Montauk, N.Y., and a $2.2 million boat will be put on the market as well.

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