Madoff Shouldn’t Get a Break on 150-Year Sentence, U.S. Says

(Bloomberg) -- Prosecutors urged a judge not to free a terminally ill Bernard Madoff, who defrauded investors of more than $19 billion in history's biggest Ponzi scheme.

Madoff last month asked the judge who sentenced him to 150 years in prison to let him out after just 10 years, saying he's dying of end-stage kidney failure. Federal prosecutors said on Wednesday he has a life expectancy of about 18 months, but urged U.S. Circuit Judge Denny Chin to keep Madoff behind bars.

“It will send the message that after a just conviction and a sentence appropriate to the crime, one of history's worst fraudsters cannot escape the full consequences of his criminal conduct, even when those consequences include spending his last days in prison,” they said in a court filing in Manhattan.

Investors lost more than $19 billion in principal when Madoff's firm ran out of money in December 2008, unable to raise enough money from new investors to pay withdrawal demands. Madoff's victims included thousands of wealthy investors, Jewish charities, celebrities and retirees, many of whom lost their life savings. A trustee appointed to recover money for Madoff's victims says they've been repaid some $12.9 billion, as of January.

Chin sentenced Madoff to 150 years behind bars after the con man pleaded guilty in 2009. He is serving his time at a federal medical center in Butner, North Carolina.

In July, Madoff asked President Donald Trump to commute his sentence. The request is pending. The Bureau of Prisons has denied his request for a sentence reduction.

Prosecutors noted that in press interviews, statements and testimony since he entered prison Madoff has “minimized his conduct, blamed his victims and has never fully accepted responsibility for his crimes.”

“Madoff's crimes were ‘extraordinarily evil,'” they said, quoting Chin's words when he sentenced Madoff. “His sentence was appropriately long. It should not be reduced.“

Letters to the judge from victims may be made public later this week.

To contact the reporter on this story: Bob Van Voris in federal court in Manhattan at rvanvoris@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net

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