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Bernard Madoff Faces 10 A.M. Sentencing, Victims
By
Jen Chung
Published Jun 29, 2009
Modified Jun 29, 2009
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By
Jen Chung
Published Jun 29, 2009
Modified Jun 29, 2009
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It's Bernard Madoff's big day: At 10 a.m., U.S. District Judge Denny Chin will hand down a sentence that determines the 71-year-old's future after he pleaded guilty to orchestrating a $65 billion Ponzi scheme in the guise of an exclusive investment fund. Bloomberg News reports, "Each of the 250 seats in the courthouse’s Ceremonial Courtroom will probably be filled, many with Madoff victims. Proceedings will be broadcast to courthouse overflow rooms." Ten of the victims have asked to speak during the sentencing.
In fact, hundreds of Madoff's victims are expected downtown this morning and they probably hope for much more than the 12-year sentence recommended by Madoff's lawyers. His lawyers say that given his age and life expectancy, 12 years is basically like a life sentence. However, Judge Chin could opt for the other extreme—150 years in prison—but a sentencing expert told Bloomberg News, "The climate as well as the amount of the fraud push him into what is essentially a life sentence. Given the age of the guy, 20 years is most likely a death sentence."
The NY Post's "expert" is a British psychic, Davinia, who read Madoff's palm six years ago. She said, "He's really afraid of what's going to happen," and drew some cards: "The first card, the Five of Swords, suggests that 'people hate him.' The second, the Judgment Card, shows that 'what you give will come back to you in the end,' Davinia said. 'And I've got the Emperor Card, which is somebody that's very arrogant and self-centered and very sure of himself.'"
Victims have been offering their thoughts on an appropriate sentence: An 89-year-old victim who lost her and her husband's life savings of $800,000 said, "I would like to see him get a lifetime imprisonment and not in one of the fancy country club jails. We started to sell our furniture, some of our things that we value...so we should have some money immediately." Another wrote a letter to Judge Chin, describing how she and her husband lost their daughter's college money, "I want Bernard Madoff to get the maximum sentence," wrote Hirschhorn, who also asked to speak. "He has destroyed us. We are not wealthy, fancy people. Never were, never will be.... We were devastated by the SEC's failure to uncover Madoff's fraud and its continued stamp of approval bestowed on Madoff over the course of his crime."
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Bernard Madoff
investment fraud
ponzi scheme
sentencing
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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