Wednesday June 24, 2009, 1:23 pm
Defence attorney argues for 12 years in prison
By JANE MUSGRAVE Cox News Service


"WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Scores of people have written letters to a federal court in New York court detailing the desperate turn their lives have taken since Bernard Madoff in December admitted he had been operating a $65-billion Ponzi scheme.

In a sentiment repeated by many victims, Boca Raton, Fla., resident Stephanie Halio wrote: "Please allow justice to be served by not allowing this monster to receive anything but the maximum sentence. If he were to go to jail for a thousand years it would not be enough to compensate for his crimes."

Leonard Forrest, 80, of Port St. Lucie, Fla., said he and his wife lost their entire life savings, aggravating already existing health problems.

"He deserves at best to spend the rest of his life in prison just as we will spend the rest of our lives in financial ruin and emotional and physical devastation," he wrote.

Many of the letters detail how the loss of their savings exacerbated other problems — divorce, cancer, sick children, parents or spouses already in the throes of dementia. Others talk about how they dreamed of being able to send their children or grandchildren to college — dreams that were wiped out by Madoff’s scheme.

A continuing theme is how the Securities and Exchange Commission long ignored warnings that Madoff’s returns to investors were phony. The victims also say they now feel re-victimized by the trustee who is overseeing the reimbursement process. Some who have taken more money out than they invested may not be eligible for up to $500,000 from the Securities Investor Protection Corp.

Richard Roth, who has already sold his home in New Jersey and has his home in Jupiter, Fla., on the market, said he is confident Madoff will spent the rest of his life in jail. But, the 67-year-old said, he’s not as confident he and his wife be able to enjoy the retirement they planned for when they invested their money with Madoff.

"Whatever sentence he gets I don’t think he’ll get out of jail," Roth said. "I’m more worried about my situation; what’s going to happen to us."

Madoff’s attorney acknowledged the letters when he asked U.S. District Judge Denny Chin on Tuesday to sentence his client to 12 years in prison. He pleaded guilty to 11 charges in March.

"We have read the unfortunate number of victim impact statements and recognize that terrible losses have been suffered as a result of Mr. Madoff’s conduct, and we have advised Mr. Madoff of their tenor and heart-wrenching stories of loss and deprivation," attorney Ira Lee Sorkin wrote.

However, he said, a 12-year sentence — well short of the 150-year maximum — will effectively be nearly a life sentence for Madoff. At 71, his life expectancy is 12.66 more years, Sorkin wrote.

At most, Sorkin said, Madoff should be sentenced to 15 to 20 years in prison. That would be in line with the average sentence meted out to others convicted in multi-million-dollar fraud cases from 1999 to 2008."

Monday June 29, 2009, 4:12 pm
The Madoff Chroncile$

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/madoff

Thursday July 2, 2009, 12:40 pm
Ruth Madoff Gets Eviction Notice From U.S. Marshals