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SMALL BUSINESS
Victims Seek Voice at Madoff Sentencing
By TOM HAYS and LARRY NEUMEISTER
, AP
NEW YORK (June 29) - It was a crime of epic proportions: a multibillion dollar Ponzi scheme that wiped out fortunes, drained retirement nest eggs, ruined charities and foundations, and even pushed some investors to commit suicide.
Six months after the scandal came to light, the battle lines over Bernard Madoff's punishment have been drawn. His lawyer insists 12 years in prison is enough. Prosecutors demand a 150-year sentence that would guarantee the 71-year-old spends his final days behind bars.
Some victims were expected to call for harsh punishment at the disgraced financier's sentencing Monday in federal court in Manhattan. Ten have told U.S. District Judge Denny Chin they wish to speak out in court.
Madoff also "will speak to the shame he has felt and to the pain he has caused," his attorney, Ira Sorkin, said in court papers.
"We seek neither mercy nor sympathy," Sorkin wrote. But the lawyer urged Chin to "set aside the emotion and hysteria attendant to this case" as he determines the sentence.
There was no shortage of emotion in recent e-mails and letters to the judge by victims.
Carla and Stanley Hirschhorn wrote that they lost their life savings
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2009-06-29 06:51:30
COMMENTS ( 76 )
They justice system worked in this case.
Funny how republicans are never held accountable when they fail spectacularly.