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June 29, 2009
Financial Dispatch: Madoff gets 150 years
Posted: 12:32 PM ET
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Prosecutors said the sentence would ensure chairman will stay in prison for the rest of his life.
Prosecutors said the sentence would ensure chairman will stay in prison for the rest of his life.

Andrew Torgan
CNN Financial News Producer

Bernard Madoff, the 71-year-old convicted mastermind behind the largest and most sweeping Ponzi scheme ever, has been sentenced to a 150-year prison term.

Judge Denny Chin of U.S. District Court in New York announced the sentence just moments after Madoff apologized to his victims.

"I live in a tormented state for all the pain and suffering I created," Madoff said. "I left a legacy of shame. It is something I will live with for the rest of my life."

Victims had urged a judge to hand down the maximum life sentence against Madoff. Many of Madoff's investors were wiped out financially by the scam and sent letters to Judge Chin requesting he spend the rest of his life behind bars.
 

CNNMoney.com has a trio of stories that anyone interested in the Madoff trial should be sure to check out:

- Madoff will likely be sent to a real prison with real bars and violent offenders, not a “country club” for white collar crooks. Here are the details of where he’ll likely wind up.

- Some people invested everything they had with Madoff. Now, they have nothing. Read their stories.

- Madoff joins a pantheon of corporate criminals doing real time. Read their stories at how the most famous while-collar cons are faring.

Gas keeps dropping ahead of July 4th

Gas prices dropped 4-tenths of a cent overnight to $2.64. That’s the eighth straight day of declines.

The average price of a gallon of gas is down $1.475, or 38.5%, from the record high price of $4.114 that AAA reported on July 17, 2008.

The highest gas prices are in Hawaii ($3.098). The cheapest are in Missouri ($2.425).

TV pitchman Mays dead

Billy Mays, the man with the booming voice famous for fronting products such as Oxiclean, Orange Glo and Mighty Putty in TV commercials, has died.

Tampa police say Mays' wife found him unresponsive at his Tampa-area home Sunday morning. Tampa Fire Rescue pronounced him deceased at 7:45 a.m. The cause of death is unknown.

Police say there were no signs of forced entry to the residence and there is no suspected foul play.

10 Comments
More about: Andrew Torgan •  Finance
10 Comments
Sharon S   June 29th, 2009 12:35 pm ET

SO WHAT?
Will it bring back all the money he and his family of crooks stole??? NO

The man should be sentenced to death and his entire family brought up on charges and everything they own taken away from them and given back to those they stole from!!! I know it probably will never be enough I can't imagine how I would feel but I would probably hope that Bernie rots in Hell!!!

sentenced to poverty   June 29th, 2009 12:41 pm ET

Madoff should be freed, freed to live on $200 a month, freed to live out the rest of his life in federally subsidized housing, freed to try and pay for all his health care needs on that $200 a month, freed to apply for food stamps, shop at Goodwill, eat at a soup kitchen, freed to die lonely, sick, and scared. In prison he'll eat for free, get free counseling, get free medical care. No, this was not a just sentence at all.

Cindy   June 29th, 2009 12:41 pm ET

Madoff got what he deserved! To bad he couldn't get more time! Hopefully he'll live to be near 100 and rot in prison!

Next step...they need to prosecute his family and take everything away from them that they have. You and I both know they had their hands in on this scheme. They can't be that stupid not to have known what was going on. IMO it was a family affair.

Cindy..Ga.

Jim,   June 29th, 2009 1:03 pm ET

No RESTITUTION???????? He should have to pay every person he swindled DOUBLE out of his Billions.

meenas17   June 29th, 2009 1:03 pm ET

Cannot think of a punishment to Madoff, as he has robbed, cheated, feigned ,what not and what else. He is feeling sorry for his misbehaviour. It is easy to express regret. It is easy to plead guilty. Behind this countenance of remorse there is a big sad story. . There is a huge pain. There are eyes welling with tears.
How can any punishment salvage this sordity?

Linda Finch   June 29th, 2009 1:22 pm ET

150 yrs??? No fair. He can't serve every minute of it. How can we stretch him out long enough to serve it....in the general population.

Carol   June 29th, 2009 1:46 pm ET

The 150 year sentence for Madoff raises more questions. It’s fair to him, but what about the others who contributed to his scheme, or looked the other way? Will the investments of his many victims be reimbursed? They should not receive the bogus values listed on their statements, but, if possible, the funds that they invested. Finally, what has been done to prevent these types of schemes from claiming so many victims in the future?

SLM   June 29th, 2009 1:55 pm ET

He should be put to work in a labor camp to pay back some of the money he stole. To sit in prison and be taken care of is way to easy.

earle,florida   June 29th, 2009 1:56 pm ET

What, "Ponsi Scheme"? Madoff just tweeked the US Governments ,"Entitlement Program's (Worthless IOU's/ Paper'd-Over on Off- Balance Sheets) tit-for-tat. Think about it folks,there ain't no money left to pay out Social Security,Medicare (Maidicaid/Welfare),etc., beyond 2015,and were calling for one man's head? At most he should be charged with plagiarism,and punished like Michael Milken,and Ivan Boesky,and work off the debt in prison,as they both did for the government (office/computer's,etc., to continue illicit insider trading,and openly trade while in "Danbury Prison"(the gentleman's golf course club)! PS. When the government wants it's money,"No Hold's are Barred",...?

Annie Kate   June 29th, 2009 7:44 pm ET

Madoff may have gotten a huge sentence but given his age he won't serve much of it. I just hope that a lot of the money can be recovered. I feel for the victims of this scheme.

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