Update: Madoff gets 150 years….Madoff Sentencing: 12 years or 150….

Update: Judge Chin says symbolism important in the sentence, that Madoff’s actions were evil, he gives Madoff 150 years…good, white collar crime should not be a vacation in club fed…

One hour to the sentencing. ..

CNBC on background:

…A U.S. judge is expected to sentence Madoff, 71, to an effective life term in prison during an emotional court hearing starting at 10 a.m. EDT in which some of his defrauded investors will describe the shock of losing their life savings. The swindler, who pleaded guilty to a slew of crimes in the same Manhattan federal court in March, will “speak to the shame he has felt and to the pain he has caused,” said his lawyer, Ira Lee Sorkin, who has suggested a 12-year prison sentence.

“Given the enormous amount of funds he has stolen and the number of victims, the sentence is going to be very, very high,” said Paul Radvany, a law professor at Fordham University in New York and a former federal prosecutor. The 100 or so letters sent to the judge from customers and what 10 will say at the hearing could have “a great impact” at the sentencing, Radvany said.

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