Madoff to Live Out Days in Prison

A federal judge has sentenced disgraced financier Bernard Madoff to 150 years in prison. U.S. District Judge Denny Chin handed down the sentence in a Manhattan federal court on Monday.

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Before he was sentenced, Madoff apologized to his family and to the victims, saying he "will live with this pain, this torment, for the rest of my life."

As the hearing got underway the judge said the federal probation department recommended Madoff get 50 years in prison.

Madoff's lawyer had asked for his client to receive a 12-year sentence. Attorney Ira Sorkin said the 71-year-old financier expects "to live out his years in prison."

Prosecutors had asked for the 150-year prison term. The judge said he needed to send a symbolic message to those who might imitate his fraud and to victims who need relief.

"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. Chin rejected a request by Madoff's lawyer for leniency and said he disagreed that victims of the Ponzi scheme were seeking mob vengeance.

Applause broke out in the crowded Manhattan courtroom after the maximum sentence was announced.

The former Nasdaq chairman was arrested last year after confessing to the multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme.

Madoff pleaded guilty to securities fraud and other charges in March and has been jailed ever since.

With AP reports