Bernie Madoff’s lawyers today submitted a letter to the judge who will sentence him next week, Denny Chin, asking for leniency. “The tone of the victim’s statements suggests a desire for a type of mob vengeance,” disproportionate to Bernie’s actual crime, they say, and they don’t want him getting slapped with one of those 150-year sentences they give to serial killers just because some people are angry that they lost their entire life savings, jobs, and in some cases family members. But this is not to say he shouldn’t be punished for his wrongdoing! So in order to help the judge out, they’ve gone ahead and done the math and (using Social Security figures, not Death Clock) calculated when exactly Bernie will kick the bucket, and proposed a sentence just shy of that.
Affording due consideration to Mr. Madoff’s voluntary surrender, full acceptance of his responsibility, meaningful cooperation efforts, and in light of the non-violent nature of his offense, Mr. Madoff should be sentenced to a term just short of effective life imprisonment. Mr. Madoff is 71 years old and has an approximate life expectancy of 13 years. A prison term of 12 years—just short of an effective life sentence — will sufficiently address the goals of deterrence, and promoting respect for the law without being “greater than necessary” to achieve them.
They add that they would be happy with a fifteen- to twenty-year sentence, too, because who knows, he may hold out a little longer, assuming he is a non-smoker and pumps some iron in prison, and really it’s the gesture, the difference between saying, “Please rot in hell,” and “Rot in hell FOREVER,” you know? At this point it’s just the little things.
Madoff Lawyers Seek Leniency in Sentencing [DealBook]
They add that they would be happy with a fifteen- to twenty-year sentence, too, because who knows, he may hold out a little longer, assuming he is a non-smoker and pumps some iron in prison, and really it’s the gesture, the difference between saying, “Please rot in hell,” and “Rot in hell FOREVER,” you know? At this point it’s just the little things.
Madoff Lawyers Seek Leniency in Sentencing [DealBook]
