A life sentence for Madoff — not!

Alot of good it will do to strip him his mangy wife was STILL ALLOWED to KEEP 2.5 MILLION IN CASE!! Where is the Justification in that?? And let us NOT forget the Slimeball Sons and Brother!! They are ALL IN THIS TOGETHER!!! That weasel wasn't and STILL isn't smart enough to carry this scam alone for over 30 years!! EVERYTHING that family owns was Bought with OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY!! They NEED to have it SEIZED!!! But that won't happen because AMERICA & the Goverment is FILLED with CROOKS & LIARS

I would agree with Bob in principle, that leaving him destitute and open to public scorn is worse than prison. But in his case, he was probably smart enough to hide money, and would figure out a way to leave the country.

His wife should also be in prison as she claims she didn't know until he confessed, but did become an accomplice when she 'bought' his property and helped send her jewelery to other family members.

This doesn't make sense…

So, in the midst of the economic crisis we're going to make him the ward of the state?

I say, just strip him of his posessions, and let him loose in society. I think making him a poor man and setting him into the streets is a more harsh punishment than putting him in jail.

RE "I believe Madoff should get 150 years with 5 years off for every person he gives full compensation for Perhaps this would be an incentive for him to “remember” where he put their investments"

… and all the "make him live on social security" comments:

Madoff had other people involved in this. He cut a deal to protect those around him. If he could get out by compensating only 30 people, those he shielded would find enough money in a heartbeat. If he was out and "forced to be living on social security", those he shielded would make sure he was living well.

Lock him up.

Deter others who would do the same as he did from thinking that the chance of spending 12 years of club fed is a fair trade for spending much of life as a fatcat. The thought of dying behind bars, never again tasting freedom is a far more effective deterent, and a fair punishment in this case.

Didn't Enron, Worldcom, LTCM etc teach Bernie's investors anything? Never put your eggs in one basket, EVER!
These investors are guilty of some greed too. But not on the order of a Bernie Madoff. They should for the most part just accept their losses. Case closed.

I agree with Jon King. Madoff's clients are just as much to blame as he is. They were greedy and need to take responsibility for their own actions.

GREED is what will be judged. Greed of Madoff and the Greed of the people he ripped off. Everyone knows not to invest more than you can afford to lose. They did because they were Greedy. Madoff was successful because of Greed. People and organizations alike were all focused on Greed. Common Sense totally left the building with Elvis. Should he go to jail, yes. Should he do 15 to 20 per investor, yes. Should brokers and financial advisors who sent investors to Madoff go to jail, yes. Should they get 15-20 years for each offense, yes. They were all Greedy. They wanted their cut. What should the investors' get? Depends on if they were Greedy or not. The little old lady that lost everything because someone told her to invest, I feel for her and her family. The old guy in Florida that lost $11 Million and is now a security guard, no. He gets nothing and now has to work.

The possible greed of his victims does not make his actions any less criminal.

The losses in this case were 32 times the losses that justify a life sentence. He should get 150 years. A life sentence should be for life, not for what might maybe sorta be life. Madoff should not be given any hope of living long enough to see freedom.

Lock him up, lose the key.

Jail is too kind to Bernie. I suggest putting him on 20 years probation. Take away all his and her assets, money, investments, real estate, everything. Then let them live on his Social Security like so many of his victims are forced to do. If anyone finds any more money, he goes to jail.

The writer is mixing up median with average. I'm embarrassed for him/her.

"But that’s on average; one-half of Madoff’s cohort will live longer than that."

Whatever he gets it should be done very creatively. Turn him out without a penny and make him work without a financial safety net. OR. Force him to live as a homeless person for 5 years. OR Have him do housework for each of his victims. OR. Force him to listen to his victims stories one after another, each day until all are exhausted.

He needs to actually suffer!! Just sitting in jail or prison, getting three meals per day is just not right.

Phil. Been there and done that. Clearly not Amway is a pyramid scheme, it would be illegal otherwise. It is only the "promise" of "retiring" on a network of other people doing all the work while you sit and collect percentages on their work that is pyramidal.

As far as the "10-15%" being a consistent reasonable return, that's the same crap people were getting on their investments in mutual funds and adding improvements in their homes to increase their values. These were "conservative" investments too. But people built their lives around these rises in their assets and then it was yanked out from under them. What makes the Madhoff victims so special? Putting all your wealth in the hands of one man is not "conservative".

This is crazy,the punishment should be against the SEC not Bernie Madoff.

Nonsense….a 10-15% return in all markets is absurd. No one ever does that honestly. His victims were greedy, many of them leaving 100% in his fund even at age 70. No 70 year old expects honest 10-15% 'guaranteed' returns. There were no victims, all were as greedy as Madoff was.

Greed has it's downfall folks. WHAT made people think that 10 – 15% was sustainable and reasonable ?? IT IS NOT REASONABLE. As a regeristered representative fro 22 years, I can tell you that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!! These folks did not lose what they never had (earnings) THe DID lose their original investment and that is all. Stop whining !! That being said Madoff sould NEVER SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY AS A FREE MAN AGAIN. His less than reputable wife and son's should join him. You're next Ruthie !!!

The head has now been dealt with, but what about the body? There is too much involved for his children, family, associates, etc. not to have been part of the scheme. It's now time to go after them.

I think he personally is just a part of the whole crime. The regulators and auditors should get way more than him. How can I as investor be sure that the business is run properly. I have no way, but to trust SEC. I just can not imagine he was able to run scheme for years constantly audited. These who were auditing him from SEC are set retire with hefty benefits. My advice for "victims" is just don't put all eggs to one basket and remember foolishness is incurable. My bet is he gets 15 and leaves the jail in 7.5.

I don't really have any pity for the folks he took advantage of. To be able to promise and deliver a steady 12% return is unbelievable. Many of his investors thought they were getting away with something, they might have thought it was insider trading, or some other type of rigged scheme, but they knew they were doing something wrong. True Madoff discouraged questions about his operations, that probably added to the mystique. The joke is it was a scheme, except the unknown victims of it turned out to be themselves.

I believe Madoff should get 150 years with 5 years off for every person he gives full compensation for Perhaps this would be an incentive for him to "remember" where he put their investments

To Pete Hendron
These people had hundreds of thusands in the bank because thay worked for it. They were then hoodwinked by a scam artist. A 10-15% return is not greedy. WAAA Pete these people have more money than me WAAAAA. The reason you should be outraged is that Madoff and the SEC allowed it to happen.
If Madoff wants a 12 year sentence, he should lead prosecutors to his family. I am sure that a good amount of that money lies with them

He should get the chair. Seriously. Pure evil.

To Pete Hendron in Atlanta,

Madoff's investments gave a relatively small but steady return. It's not like people investing with him thought they'd be getting a 30% return. They expected what his investments returned in previous years, along the lines of 10-15% consistantly. A good return, but people were earning more than that in the stock market and real estate before those bubbles burst. I'm sure most considered Madoff's investments more conservative than others they could have invested with.

Larger than Bernnie Madoff is the much greater system risk that has already caused such damage to both the US and world economy. Without restoration of regulations, enforcement, and transparency, then we can all expect furious roller coaster rides designed to enrich a few on Wall Street and in private equity while Main Street remains stagnant or worse.

HOW COME BERNIES WIFE GETS $2,500,000? SHE WORKED AS A BOOKKEEPER FOR HIS COMPANY? SHE SHOULD BE IN JAIL TOO!! SOUNDS LIKE ANOTHER BAD DEAL WAS MADE FOR AMERICA.

Amway is not a pyramid scheme. It is a multi-level-marketing company which exists in exactly the same fashion as Avon. They also do a lot of contract manufacturing, you're probably using several products made and distributed by Amway and you don't even realize it. It is not a Ponzi sheme and comparing Amway to Madoff makes you come across as an idiot.

The lawyer is trying to get the sentence down to 12 years, so that in 2 years, Madoff can request to be transferred to a prison camp versus the Medium Security prison a 150 year sentence would bring.

Madhoff should be sentenced to sitting behind a desk and re-creating the records of every dollar taken in and distributed by his ponzi scheme. Everyone should return every dollar in excess of what they put in. Everyone who comes up short should get back exactly what they put in.

His ponzi scheme is a pyramid scheme (similar to Amway) where the early contributors got returns abnormally in excess of their contributions by luring other people into the "exclusive club". This works until they run out of new meat or the people start trying to get their money out of the pot.

Once he has accounted for every penny, he should be made to work off every cent unreturned. That should take him about a hundred years. The desk should be in a medium security prison so he can't run, of course.

Many of Madoff's victims are ruined for life and that should be his fate, too. Put him in the slammer and throw away the key.

ANGER AGAINST MADOFF "INVESTORS"

Some posts here (very few actually) posted anger against Madoff "investors." This begs the fact that many of us could easily have been hoodwinked by Madoff, or in some cases not actually know where the feeder funds that fed him would end up…

The SEC is worthless. They are the Keystone Kops.

Many Madoff investors are not at all rich. Hatred of rich people does not excuse Madoff or his family. What Sorkin is actually talking about here is eventual parole.

He is not deserving of parole.

sanjosemike

The lines from an ol' Don Henley song come to mind, "any man can steal more money with a briefcase than any man with a gun"…sad, but true.

Less than a maximum sentence would require penance and restitution. Full restitution should earn him the requested reduced sentence. The money produced, so far, is laughable. He is still an unrepentant criminal trying to manipulate the system, and should be treated as such.

Bernard Madoff is a criminal. He deserves a sentence that ensures he will spend the rest of his life in jail. Let's not forget, though, that it was the reduced oversight of the SEC that led to a lot of the financial irregularities that have crippled our financial system and our economy. In the last 25 years practically every Federal agency (SEC, FDA, Dept. of Agriculture, and others) was sent to the dentist to have most of their teeth extracted. When the "good ole boys" are put in charge of monitoring themselves greed destroys the capitalist system.

Please lets stop the over dramatics about people losing their lives. The guy ripped people off. He did not run over thier children with a cement mixer. He coned them and they lost their money. It stinks but it happens. I know a lot of poeple who have recently lost a lot of money, and they are not going to kill themselves. They made the money, made bad investments, lost it, and are fighting to regain at least some of it back. Madoff was a con man, nothing more, nothing less. I say 12 years, during which time he need to spend 10 hours a day working for free, in some capacity to try and get back some of the money he stole. (remember, he is very smart). Then after he is out(if he ever gets out alive), he must continue to work for the people he ripped off and carry one of those pointer sticks though the park everyday picking up trash half the day until he is physically unable, while always working the other half to repay the people he robbed for the rest of his life. Locking him up for 150 years, making the taxpayers pay the tab, feeding him and letting him rot does nothing but give false sense of revenge. Put him to work, i bet he could figure out a way to get a lot of the money back.

It's obvious by the story that his family has money that is hidden. The math of the assets that have been seized do not even add to $1 billion. Where is the rest of the money? To even consider spending that much money to live is not within the realm of possibility. It is hidden somewhere.

Do you know what the kicker was for me?
When after he was arrested, he and his wife were caught trying to mail valuable things to their family and friends, did that show respect for the system or the people that were swindled?
I think that the authorities should show up to the New York Apartment unannounced and take anything of value from it including the wife's wedding rings. She should be monitored for the rest of her life for any assets that can be seized. Assets from the family should be seized too.

Madoff's clients who lost money, DESERVE EXACTLY WHAT THEY GOT!! Why have sympathy for any of them? While so many Americans are struggling financially lately, you’ll be hard pressed to find many people who have ANY sympathy for these Madoff investors, who, by the way, are just as responsible as Madoff himself. The bottom line, they were greedy and they got burned. Boo friggin' hoo for them. It wasn't enough that they had hundreds of thousands in the bank. And it wasn't enough that they could do the research themselves, and put money in the investments that are available to everyone… No, they had to be part of a "Special Investment Club" for (give me a break) "special people" like them. An Investment Club which allegedly yielded bigger profits than any "financial products" most investors were aware of. Obviously they had never heard of the old adage, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!” It's not that complicated of a story, it's a very common tale. Their own greed and arrogance allowed a “flimflam man come lately" to swindle them. If Madoff had knowingly swindled the same amount of money from foreign corporations, or foreign governments, these very same people would be delighted to sip champaign with him, at his table at the country club. They are only upset because they were so stupid, and so blinded by greed, that they let it happen to them.
Yup, they were greedy and they got burned. They can whine all they want, and point fingers (which should be pointed at themselves), but they are not going to get one penny back… IT’S GONE, B’DDA B’DDA B’DDA, THAT’S ALL FOLKS! “Madoff’s investors” did achieve one goal though. They are now part of a privileged group: known as the ever growing "Broke Class." Enjoy it folks, you have lots of company these days!

I just love the self righteous comments from those who think they are so smart and feel the need to lecture us. If you are so smart then why aren't you rich enough to have been able to invest with Madoff.

The answer is simple- You are not that smart and actually quite ignorant, based on your assumptions.

Quite a few of the investors had their money at the brokerage part of the biz. ABSOLUTELY NO DIFFERENCE than you have your investments parked at Merrill or schwab or e-trade.

2- What is so greedy about 10-14% annual returns when

a)the historical long term returns for stocks ove the past 75 years is about 8%.
b) when internet stocks would triple in one day and madoff investors were settling for 14% how can you think they were greedy. Did any of you chase the internet bubble trying to earn big returns?

3-Madoff was highly respected and an established leader in the industry for decades-not just some non name off the street

4-He was subject to SEC reviews and passed every one of them with no major findings. That is no different than the FDA saying your food is safe or the drug you are taking is safe. If the drug ends up killing someone isn't the first reaction to sue the manufacturer and question the FDA approval process? The gov't ineptness, unfortunately, is shielded from liability and not able to be sued.

5- Not every one took out more than they put in and many only took out living expenses each year and most lost more real cash invested than taken out. Also, many people were not super rich and were average people but frsnkly that is completely irrelevant.

I wonder if you have more sympathy for the irresponsible borrower who lost their houese because they were greedy and tried to game the real estate market and/or lie about their finances. Or the ILLEGAL immigrant who is too greedy to wait in line and go through the proper channels to enter this country. Both of those examples are people who knowingly did something illegal yet you seem to hold more contempt for innocent victims of theft simply because they have more money than you. That makes you poor AND pathetic and a LOSER

Let's be lenient. give Madoff One day in jail for each Million Dollars that he swindled from people. Now, $13.000 Million…hmmm. Divide 13,000 by 365 (or 35.6 years) and that should be a fair length prison term in years for poor Mr. Madoff. Anything less is a slap on the wrist.

We seem to be regressing to the days of the old wild west. In those days shister's and con men seemed to be abundant with few laws to keep them in check. They cheated folks with there shell games, land deals and phoney gold mines. I think Mr. Madoff would qualify as a shister. I also think that many of these shister's were taken to the local hanging tree by the folks that were cheated. At least there was some justice.

There is something seriously wrong with this world (mainly the US) when a marijuana user can get 25 years in jail yet a person who stole billions, ruined thousands of lives, stashed billions in hidden accounts for friends and family, inflicted multiple suicides…etc.etc..may get off with 12 years to that he can still get out to enjoy the money he squandered. Yeh…that's justice for the rich in the US

I agree with AreYouSerious if all I had to do was serve twelve years in prison and I'd walk away with millions or billions, I'd consider it.

The life expectancy of all his victims should be added together to determine what he has to serve plus an additional 12 years. He or his family can repay victims and those years will disappear (but the 12 remains).

Two years is about right. What is this about destroying lives? These people are just being put on an even footing with the rest of the people whose 401Ks turned into 104Ks. Giving him a life sentence while paying multi million dollar bonus's to banking CEO's and trading executives is true injustice. At least he isn't sticking the tax payers with hundreds of millions of dollars of additional taxes.

Have him earn back the $13billion with a job paying the federal minimum wage. After he pays it back (he'll probably need more than 150 years), then he can be free. I'm sure the victims would like to have their money back regardless of what happens to Madoff.

He should be shot by a fire-ing squad by the people who lost everything,on national TV !!!!!!!

Madoff states that he did the crime, so what's the problem?, He did the crime, he should do the time !! 150 years and nothing less!!!

I realize he is a true crook; however, the circumstances dictate that the harm done equals the maximum sentence the law allows. We don't need angry words any more. Let the law dictate outcome.

Joseph Miami: If what you say is true it sounds like you had inside information. I wouldn't be trumpeting your story too loudly.

People should have been more wise. No just assuming I am making a whole lot more with Madoff so I am moving the money to his firm. Don't you think if the market is down and most all firms are not performing that well, but one is mysteriously out performing by leaps and bounds that there is a reaosn for it? Hmm…I agree that what he done was wrong and unethical but people need to take some responsibility for being greedy.

What about personal responsibility. These people lost money because they were greedy and stupid. Year a go I bought stork in a gold mining company. IT kept going up and up in value. In a very short time I had made 70 x what I pout into it. That when I noticed that there was no way this US based company could be producing as much gold as they said the were without effecting the world gold markets. I got out and bought some long term puts well outside the money with .1% of my winnings. a few months later that company was investigated by the SEC and found to bee cooking the books. The options skyrocketed.A lot of people got screwed, but it was their own fault. They were offered a bill of good written in crayon on the pack of a sugar packet and CHOOSE to sign it.

Let's see.. This fellow has proven what a good con man he is to the tune of billions of stolen dollars. I think he is teaching his lawyer(s) some of his tricks. Obviously the claims he made for clients were outrageous in light of events, as are the requests of the lawyer regarding sentencing. So are we going to be duped again? I wouldn't trust this guy or his lawyer further than I could throw them. Madoff deserves life without parole!

I would say let him do time in Angola (also known as "The Farm") is the Louisiana State Penitentiary,

How many people have ever seen that place?

They have one hell of a warden that makes EVERYONE work everyday, hard labor and hard time, They have a nice parole board to that will like him.

Thats where he needs to be, they will like him there, they even have an in house graveyard…….

Mr. Madoff should be shown mercy.he should be executed.We would save money by not putting him in prison.This would be a welcome surprise to him.

When will his wife, 2 sons and 100's of employees go to jail?
No money was invested in anthing. What were they all doing all these years for their weekly paychecks and bonuses.
Twittering?

Madoff has you all fooled. He has millions stashed away. He plead guilty to save his family. Give him 12 and he will be out in 6. He is actually smarter that you can imagine and he has many powerful friends he has made money for over the years.

@Pranvani

I believe that's the main point… 150 years is the sentence – not the revenge.
X amount of crimes at Y amount of years gives his sentence, not vengeful Judges and Lawyers.

Emotion and empathy are the only items that drive people to think that less than the sentence spelled out by the law should be reduced.

@Pete

I actually think that the government made more off of Madoff via taxes on returns to investors and his "firm" than it will cost to upkeep the rest of his life. And the social benefit is upholding the law.

Every talks about Madoff serving a life sentence and how he should never be free. I know prison is rougher than being free, but at 83 if he gets the 12 years, when he gets out, he will be bankrupt and have nothing. He will have no job, no home, and no money. So how will his life be any better than if prison? So what difference does it make if he gets out early, it wont make a difference, his life will still suck compared to how he has been living…

Make the length of his sentence equal life plus one day. No parole.

This way, the sentence is not 'too long' and not too short.

If I could get billions of dollars for only spending 12 years in jail, I'd consider it. I can't think of any other way that would net me billions of dollars in ANY amount of time, let alone 12 years!

He did the crime. It's only fair that he do the time. Why should the sentence for the same crime and circumstances be different for different people?

Let Madoff walk. Take away his pasport.
This way he can live in fear, sooner or later, probably sooner someone he has shafted will get him.

Take a look at what happened to the Enron and WorldCom execs. They lost a lot of other peoples money also, and what did they get…25 years, and the age difference is not that much. Think he'll really get 150 years?

HOw about 1 year for each person he invested for

Let him determin if waterboarding is torture. Once a year for the term of his sentence.

What are the chances one of the people he stole from has him deleted on the inside? Pretty good if you ask me.

Why should age be a factor? This is discrimination. We ask everyone to look past age,sex,religion,rich,poor and color. Why should the justice system bend for age. Next will be health. We bend as a nation for everyone's special needs. Make an example out of him and make the sentence stand. Gotti died in prison why should he be different?

Yes he deserves to be punished but saying 150 years is really ridiculous. Passing a sentence that is longer than a person could possibly live is just to make the victim feel better, but we all know this ia not reality. I'd say 15 years – even if he survives, his life is effectively over. And yes — while I fee sorry for the people that lost money, some of this was due to their own greed and anyone who kills himself over money is just foolish.

After serving one year in prison, Madoff will be released to to "severe medical conditions" and will be restricted for the rest of his life in his mega-villa-condo, living in comfort. Money talks and he got lots of moolah to spend on some hot shot lawfirm!!!!

Prison could afford Madoff "rock star" status like is sometimes does bank robbers. Instead, export Madoff as a secret agent to North Korea, Iran, Venezuela or China. In 6 months he will bankrupt their officials and economies. Their officials will ceretainly catch on far faster than our SEC officials. His life expectancy there? 12 minutes.

Why should age factor in to his sentence? If Madoff was 40 years old would you still say 12 years in prison is fair? The famous phrase is "If you do the crime you pay the time", not "If you do the crime you pay the time relevant to your life expectancy"

He deserves life, not a mere 12 years, he ruined too many other lives. His wife and kids should go with him, too.

I think Jerry had it right. Put a collar on him, and make him work for a living doing volunteer work around the country. Make him do the travel and expenses on his dime. I think he would want to figure out how to pay someone back fast! I hear the city parks department, and street department in many cities are in need of personnel because theu are unable to afford to pick-up garbage and fill potholes.

It appears the obvious has been overlooked – prison is a VERY dangerous place. Whether he is sentenced to 12 years or 20 years is irrelevant. Considering the American public's outright disdain/hatred for this man, it would not be surprising if he doesn't make it past the first month. That said, he will in fact receive a life sentence.

How 'bout we arrange to let him out 6 months before he dies…

It must be said that the victims are partly responsible for their own misfortunes. No sensible investor should have all of their money trusted to one asset; that is completely foolish!

I think Madoff's lawyer makes a good point. There are two purposes of incarceration in the United States: To protect the public from a dangerous person and to deter future crimes. It is NOT to get revenge on criminals! Is Madoff reasonably going to be a future threat? (not likely) and is a 150 year sentence more likely to deter than one that reaches the average life expectency? (I really do not think so). Emotion, empathy, and vindication have no place in the justice system.

How about this for a sentence. Keep him in jail for the rest of his life, and every day someone harmed through Madoff's actions will have two hours to come to the prison and either berate him or tell him how his actions have ruined their lives. He cannot answer the allegations, he just can listen, see the faces of those his actions hurt. Now that's punishment, I can guarantee that he won't look forward to the next day.

He needs to be in prison until they carry him out feet first. But more important they need to go after the rest of the people who were in this scam with him. He's taking the fall for all of them. That includes his family, they knew what was going on and were part of it.

There's no societal benefit to putting him in jail. Why should we pay for his upkeep? He is not a threat to people. Take away what he loves; money. He should be sentenced to working at McDonald's and living in a 4 story walk up on that income.

For what he has done, 12 years is a slap in the face to his victims. He need to stay in jail for the rest of his life – I have an idea, let's make a deal, we'll sentence him base on "his" life expectancy so he's guarantee to stay in jail til he dies.

Sure, have the tax payers support the bastard for the rest of his life or twelve years. He's ripped the public off enough. Hang him.

12 years? Tell that to the people who committed suicide because they were completely broke, tell that to the people who will now have to live in poverty until they die, tell that to the people whose life expectancy has drastically shrunk because this crook robbed them unscrupulously. Whoever pleads for a soft sentence here is out of his mind or a PR agent

The sentance of 150 years would be over the life expectancy of any person. So I think because he has been so good lately they should cut the sentance in half. 75 years in prison. That is a good break. Age should not be an excuse to reduce the nature of a crime if they knowingly acted with malice.

Madoff has DESTROYED the lives of thousands (maybe more) of people with his criminal acitivities. He has taken, in many cases, the bulk of life savings. These people will also live more than 12 – 15 years and will now have to figure out a way to do so without the money they saved to make those years fruitful. Madoff should pay the price for each individual that he impacted….maybe 12 years per person. Bottom line, let the pond scum rot!

Thr is absolutly no question he should receive the maximum sentence, 150 years. He stole others lives, they will never regain their money not in 12 years not in 150. He is the lowest of the low. LET HIM ROT.

He should be given 150 years, with the opportunity to get out early the day he pays back all the money he swindled from investors.

In sentencing someone, due consideration of the impact to the lives of the victims is appropriate. It's fair to say in this instance that many lives were destroyed as a direct result of his greed. As such, he should be sentenced to life without parole. Otherwise, what's to stop a 30 year old from committing a crime, stashing the cash, and then only service 12-15 years?

No, the only way to control greed of this magnitude is to mean that if you're caught, you go to prison for life. As it is, our prisons are a walk in the park compared to say Turkey or North Korea. Perhaps we can trade him for the two reporters? THAT would be fitting punishment for this scumbag!

"Anything longer than that will not punish him any more harshly since he may not be alive to endure it." But he may be alive to endure a longer sentence in which case a longer sentence will punish him more harshly.

A lot of people who have done much less evil things get longer sentences. The bottom line is he should get a long enough sentence to make sure that the only way he leaves jail is in a coffin. That may make the next would be Maddof think twice about doing it.

I think 12 years is a long time (especially in jail) for the culprit to repent for his crimes. Moreover, given the comfortable life he has led so far, his chances of a long life are greatly reduced in a medium security jail where they also have regular criminals (other than white collar). So, I think it's appropriate to send him behind bars for 12 to 15 years. Anything longer than that will not punish him any more harshly since he may not be alive to endure it.