Madoff sentenced to 150 years in prison - ABA DSS

**jell691** · June 29th, 2009

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Disgraced financier Bernard Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison on Monday for perpetrating the biggest and most brazen investment fraud in Wall Street history.
The courtroom erupted in cheers and applause as U.S. District Court Judge Denny Chin imposed the maximum possible prison sentence on the 71-year-old defendant.
Madoff stood facing the judge with his hands clasped in front of him as he learned his fate.
"The fraud here was staggering," Chin said, after listening to angry statements from some of Madoff's victims.
Before his sentencing, Madoff addressed the court.
"I cannot offer you an excuse for my behavior," he said, speaking in a calm voice. "How do you excuse betraying thousands of investors who entrusted me with their life savings?"
Wearing a dark business suit, leaning forward with his hands resting on a table, he said he tried to undo his crimes but "the harder I tried, the deeper a hole I dug for myself."
He added, "I live in a tormented state now, knowing the pain and suffering I have created."
Earlier, Madoff sat still, his eyes lowered, as victims came before the judge to tell how they were ruined financially, many having to sell their homes and live off Social Security.
"How could somebody do this to us? How could this be real? We did nothing wrong," said Dominic Ambrosino, a retired New York City corrections officer. "We will have to sell our home and hope to survive on Social Security alone."
"You have left your children with a legacy of shame," said Tom FitzMaurice, 63, calling Madoff "an evil low-life."
"He has shown no remorse ... His crime was premeditated and calculated. He was planning to scam investors days before his arrest. If he could, he would still be stealing from investors," FitzMaurice said.
"He cheated investors out of money so that he had his wife Ruth and two sons could live a life of luxury," he said.
Madoff confessed to running a multibillion-dollar "Ponzi scheme" in which investors were paid returns from money paid by later investors.
Investigators do not know how much was stolen, according to court papers. Prosecutors say $170 billion flowed through the principal Madoff account over decades, and that weeks before the financier's December arrest the firm's statements showed a total of $65 billion in accounts.
The trustee winding down the Madoff firm has so far collected $1.2 billion to return to investors.

Triac-1 · June 29th, 2009

GOOD.. Make him a blood donor as well the MF'r hurt ppl without any remorse

Triac-1 · June 29th, 2009

Wait no blood donations’... someone should have killed his mother before she reproduced...

**eclipsemoon** · June 29th, 2009

Wow, 150 Years,He is going to be pretty old when he gets out.

**MOE23** · June 29th, 2009

glad to here that he will not wake out on his own !!!!!!

**berto0000** · June 29th, 2009

there still more peoples outside like him, to all them jail, yea

**Victor Hugo** · June 30th, 2009

I do not know why we have to support this people in jail ?? 150 years that is ridicules, living like five star hotel, just give him the last diner, and that it, no pain no tomorrow.

**jc7257** · June 30th, 2009

Now they need to gather all the money he gave his family as LOANS, and get it back to the people he swindled. His family members knew he was swindling people and took the money anyway. They need to take all of the money from his wife, and her sable coats, sell all these items, and put her high living A$$ on the side walk...

**bigevil69** · June 30th, 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by jc7257

Now they need to gather all the money he gave his family as LOANS, and get it back to the people he swindled. His family members knew he was swindling people and took the money anyway. They need to take all of the money from his wife, and her sable coats, sell all these items, and put her high living A$$ on the side walk...

i agree
they just as guilty aiding and abetting