Madoff sentenced to 150 years
Published:Monday | June 29, 2009 | 1:28 PM
United States financier Bernard Madoff has been sentenced to 150 years in prison over a multi-billion-dollar fraud scheme.
Federal Judge Denny Chin of the US District Court in New York announced the sentence just moments after Madoff apologised to his victims this morning.
Chin said the maximum sentence was important for deterrence, and also for the victims.
The 150-year sentence is the maximum that federal prosecutors in New York requested, based on the number of Madoff\'s victims, the amount of money he stole and the extent of the damage he caused.
Madoff, who was stripped of his property in a legal action Friday, confessed on March 12 to running a massive Ponzi scheme.
He had also pleaded guilty to 11 criminal counts, including fraud, money laundering, perjury, false filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and other crimes.