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 swindling and to victims who lost their entire savings. The audience applauded in the crowded New York City courtroom after U.S. District Judge Denny Chin issued the maximum sentence to the 71-year-old Madoff. 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,” Chin said. The judge said the estimate that Madoff has cost his victims more than $13 billion was conservative. “Objectively speaking, the fraud here was staggering,” he said. Before Madoff became a symbol of Wall Street greed, he had earned a reputation as a trusted and skilled money manager. Even as markets fluctuated, clients of his secretive investment advisory business—from middle-class retirees to wealthy entertainment and sports celebrities—for decades enjoyed high and steady returns on investments. But late last year, Madoff told his sons the business was “all just one big lie,” a classic pyramid scheme. Madoff pleaded guilty in March to securities fraud and other charges, saying he was “deeply sorry and ashamed.” He insisted that he acted alone, describing a separate wholesale stock-trading firm run by his sons and brother as legitimate. Last week, a judge issued a preliminary $171 billion forfeiture order striping Madoff of all his personal property, including real estate, investments, and $80 million in assets his wife Ruth had claimed were hers.
