Bernard Madoff sentenced to 150 years in prison
Monday, June 29th, 2009
Convicted swindler Bernard Madoff will spend the rest of his life behind bars. Today a New York Judge sentenced 71-year-old Madoff to the maximum term, 150 years. Many of Madoff’s victims, who were in court, broke out in applause when the sentence was announced.
Earlier in the proceedings, Madoff apologized to his victims for what is estimated to be at least a $50 billion fraud. Madoff was convicted of running the largest Ponzi scheme ever. In court today, some of his victims spoke bitterly of how the scheme had wiped out their finances and damaged their lives.
Last Friday, in a $170 billion legal judgment against Madoff, the government reportedly seized all of his property, which will now be liquidated and used to pay back some of the money owed to more than a thousand investors.
