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Madoff Sentenced To 150 Years In Prison
Barring extraordinary developments, Bernie Madoff will spend the rest of his life in prison.
The Wall Street swindler has been sentenced to 150 years in prison for swindling investors out of many billions of dollars, reports the AP.
That was the sentence prosecutors had been seeking. The federal probation department had asked for 50 years. Madoff's lawyer, Ira Sorkin, had argued that both figures were excessive -- but the judge sided with prosecutors.
In March, Madoff pleaded guilty to securities fraud. The exact value of his crime hasn't been calculated, in part because the scheme was so large and wide-ranging.
Madoff, 71, said he "will live with this pain, this torment, for the rest of my life."
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Josh
Zachary
Not enough. Madoff should be forced to stand alone onstage in a big auditorium full of his victims, who would each be given time at the microphone to address him on the personal effects of his crime.
June 29, 2009 11:54 AM | Reply | Permalink
That reminds me of the punishment of Ishido at the end of Shogun:
June 29, 2009 12:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Not enough? 150 years is horribly excessive. 130 years would have been plenty.
June 29, 2009 1:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Bernie's lawyers told him not to worry, that with good behavior he could easily have the sentence cut in half.
June 29, 2009 1:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
I doubt that he would live beyond a 50 year sentence, but I guess that they wanted to set that parole bar pretty high.
June 29, 2009 2:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, he should be thankful. It could have been life.
June 30, 2009 1:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Screw that, you can't shame the shameless.
No, if you want to punish the man, you make sure that his family and friends spend the rest of their lives penniless. Reduce them to poverty, as it's pretty clear that they are in fear of it.
It might also help deter future imitators.
June 29, 2009 12:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
I agree that this may make the victims feel better (temporarily), but I don't think it would have any affect on Madoff. The man wined and dined and partied with these people. Many had considered themselves his friends. A sociopath does not care about the pain he's inflicted upon others because he does not possess the capacity for empathy. The pain Madoff feels right now is for himself, for all he has lost and nothing more.
June 29, 2009 2:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Weekend at Bernie's anyone?
He got what he deserved. Newsy offers this interesting report on the sentencing.
http://www.newsy.com/videos/madoff_who_s_really_to_blame
July 1, 2009 4:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
What type of prison is Madoff going to serve his time in?
Zachary: Madoff is spelled wrong in your headline.
June 29, 2009 12:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
He got it right in the main text or is this a result of copied and pasted fragments?
June 29, 2009 12:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
What about the rest of the crooks on wall street? They hurt even more people with their scams!
June 29, 2009 12:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Rikers isn't a FedPen but it would be a fitting end for the man who stole with more with a pen than anyone ever stole with a gun.
His wife shouldn't get to keep any money he stole. She should be made to deal with her new-found poverty the same as the trusting souls did who gave him their money to invest.
June 29, 2009 12:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
So, ok. One down, and how many more to go? Don't let Madoff be the only sacrificial lamb on this issue. I expect to see more of these Wall Street white-collar criminals go down. Let them all serve in a super-max prison in Colorado in isolation.
June 29, 2009 12:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
Whose next on the list?
June 29, 2009 12:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Why not death penalty?
June 29, 2009 12:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
i want to know why no one will tell us where he hid the money.
why wont they??
and if you think they cant find it i have some nice land i been saving to sell you.
June 29, 2009 12:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Can I pay by check?
June 29, 2009 1:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
Now the feds must bring in the sons, the wife, the niece and all the other family members who knew about this fraud. They've already arrested Madoff's accountant.
June 29, 2009 12:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
I hope that they look into the investors too. I read that many of Madoff's clients were using him because he helped them evade their taxes. I'm tired of the rich living under a different system.
I'm sure there were some innocent victims, but how could anyone have believed the returns he claimed? It's suspicious at the least.
Anyway, I'm glad he'll rot in jail.
June 29, 2009 2:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm not trying to defend him, but Madoff's returns were pretty modest. I have a client who was receiving 35% returns. My partner and I advised this client over and over again that this was too good to be true and that it was probably a scam, a pyramid scheme where he would be responsible to some of the other investors, but he refused to believe us, (yes, he was excessively greedy and arrogant, as well) and we became the bad guys, the spoil sports, the negative nellies. As predicted, he lost everything, every last dollar and cent.
June 29, 2009 2:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm not so sure about that. Consistent returns over decades of 15% to 22%? That's pretty amazing from where I'm sitting. Consistent decade after decade returns of 10-12% are even considered above normal, aren't they?
June 29, 2009 3:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
Greed all around on this one. Capitalism redux. Everybody got what they deserved. Even the prosecutors got greedy. Ah, Karma.
June 29, 2009 1:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't think the investors got what they deserved. An 8-10% annual return is not exactly aggressive. I feel sick when I think of the losses to the charitable foundations that were mixed up in this mess. Please don't include them or their beneficiaries in the list of the "deserving".
June 29, 2009 2:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Amazing that some of these people were so sophisticated in other areas of their lives, but when it came down to their hard-earned money, they put 100% of it with one man, a man who couldn't tell them exactly how he invested it and gave them the exact same returns 20 years in a row.
June 29, 2009 3:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
These are the kind of people that can afford to investiage who they are in bed with, but they didn't want to know. Honestly, I have very little sympathy to go around in this mess because I think they were all in on it together - the rich helping the rich get richer and evading income taxes, all "hush-hush, don't ask questions" or the candy might get taken away.
And what due diligence were the foundations that lost so much money doing? Their boards should all be fired or asked to step down, if they are volunteers. They have a responsibility to their donors to do their homework with the money they are given. Shame.
I'm sure there were a few innocent victims but more and more I feel like it was too good to be true and everybody already knew it. Maybe it was more about if you stay in long enough and tell other people to put your money with Madoff that you'll get some of your money back. I'm pretty jaded, eh?
June 29, 2009 3:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Fraud and theft.... 150 years, not that he didn't deserve it.
Rendition, torture, and death... freedom from prosecution, not that they deserve it.
Our justice system is now based on politics, not crime.... not that we deserve it... IMHO
June 29, 2009 4:41 PM | Reply | Permalink