Jun 23, 2009 11:57 pm US/Eastern
Bernie's Dozen? Lawyer Asks For Leniency On Madoff
Attorney Calls For Sentence Of 12 Years For Disgraced Financier, Sending Shockwaves Through Victims' Hearts
NEW YORK (CBS) ―

Call it the new math according to Bernard Madoff. The disgraced financier faces up to 150 years in prison for running a $65 billion Ponzi scheme, but his lawyer says that doesn't add up. Instead, Madoff's wish is for a lot less time in prison when he's sentenced next week.

Madoff's attorney, Ira Sorkin, filed papers in federal court in advance of Monday's sentencing, asking the judge for a more lenient sentence…by 138 years. Yes, Sorkin is calling for a sentence of just 12 years behind bars, a move that led to swift reaction from his victims.

"Here's a man who destroyed what faith anybody could have had in the financial services business. And if he's allowed to get away with a light sentence for doing what he's done to the U.S. financial markets, then we've got a big, big problem in this country," said Ilene Kent.

In his filing, Madoff's attorney wrote that the tone of what the victims had already written the judge "suggests a desire for a type of mob vengeance that, if countenanced here, would negate and render meaningless the role of the court."

Kent found that notion absurd.

"Is it mass hysteria waking up one morning finding out you have nothing; finding out you're going to be foreclosed on your home; finding out that you have no where to go; finding out that you're going to have to put your adult parents in a nursing home because you're not longer going to be able to care for them?" she said.

Federal rules allow the judge some leeway, taking into account factors like what Madoff did, and his age. No one knows better than what to expect than Zachary Carter, a former U.S. Attorney:

"I think that he could reasonably expect that he'll be sentenced to a term that would virtually guarantee that he never be released alive from prison," Carter told CBS 2.

When Madoff walks into this courthouse Monday, he will find out just how much time he will get. All eyes will be on federal judge Denny Chin to see if he goes towards the lower or the higher end of the sentencing guidelines.

Madoff's attorney also said in the letter that he also would be comfortable with a 15-20 year sentence. A Colorado woman who says her family was ruined financially by Madoff's thievery said a sentence that short might only work "if he was hung by his toes" the whole time.

"If we he was hung by his toes for 12 years then maybe that sentence would be acceptable," said Candace Newlove of Nederland, Colo. She said her family was financially ruined by Madoff.

Newlove, who is selling her home, said she hopes the judge keeps in mind that Madoff "had a huge impact not only on our family but world economics and trust around the world."

Richard Roth of Jupiter, Fla., who lost several million dollars with Madoff and has had to put his house up for sale, said he had faith in the court system.

"The lawyers can ask for anything he wants. that doesn't mean anything. I'm sure he's going to spend the rest of his life in jail," he said.

Jesse Cohen, a Summit, N.J., man who called Madoff a "thief and a monster" in a letter to the court, said Tuesday that he trusts that the judge will be fair at sentencing.

Sorkin said his client has cooperated repeatedly with the government agencies seeking to recover money for victims and figure out how his fraud went undetected for decades.

The lawyer said Madoff met recently for several hours with the inspector general of the Securities and Exchange Commission, providing information and insight into his conduct and the role of the SEC.

"The information exchanged during the meeting will no doubt shape and fortify the future of Wall Street regulation and oversight," Sorkin wrote, calling Madoff's participation at the meeting "entirely voluntary."

The lawyer included in his submission to the court late Monday an analysis of sentences given to defendants facing a potential life sentence in fraud-related cases between 1999 and 2008 that concluded the average sentence when leniency was not given was 15.3 years in prison.

He also noted that Madoff's age would leave him with an average life expectancy of 12.6 more years.

In his submission, Sorkin cited dozens of letters from Madoff victims urging Chin to make sure Madoff never gets out of prison.

"The significant anger and resentment evidence in the victims' words is no doubt justified in light of the circumstances of this case," Sorkin said. "Thankfully, none of the fury expressed in the victim statements has been as shocking as the death threats and anti-Semitic e-mails that have been directed toward Mr. Madoff and his counsel."

Still, he added, the tone of the victim statements "suggests a desire for a type of mob vengeance that, if countenanced here, would negate and render meaningless the role of the court."

Sorkin said his office had advised Madoff about the letters and "their tenor and heart-wrenching stories of loss and deprivation."

He said he and Madoff acknowledge the "scope and magnitude of those losses and understand the victims' calls for reprisal."

Madoff was arrested in December after he confessed to his sons that the private investment side of his business was a fraud. Authorities say Madoff promised investors their accounts were worth as much as $65 billion. In reality, only several hundred million dollars remained.

Janice Oh, a spokeswoman for federal prosecutors in Manhattan, said the office had no comment.


http://wcbstv.com/local/bernard.madoff.sentence.2.1055965.html

like he deserves any leniency! Toss him in an oubliette, let him rot!

I think they need to put his wife in with him!

This biotch knows about the people whose lives he destroyed and complained about having to give up "their stuff" in partial reimbursement! Then when they found $7 Billion (or million?) in assets in her name, claims it was her money????? Ya, right! Don't think I remember her in the "Forbes Top (anything)" list.... do you?

His children too need to give up their share of his $