So Madoff got 150 years for massive investment fraud.
What an absurd sentence -- realistically anything over 10 years is a sentence for life.
A long sentence is appropriate -- this was an amazing crime spree -- but 150 years makes a joke of sentencing.
By comparison, Desire Munyaneza, 42, found guilty of seven counts by a Quebec Superior Court for acts committed in southern Rwanda from April to July 1994 under Canada's Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act stands to get a maximum of 25 years before possible parole. And for another comparator, in the Einsatzgruppen Nazi war crimes case, United States v. Otto Ohlendorf, et al. , all the surviving defendants were released within eleven years of conviction.
4 comments:
They are probably trying to teach other people a lesson.
That time was accumulated is why it is so long. They could have cut it in half and he wouldn't care anyway.
I saw a DOC. on CBC about him... wow, it is a wonder someone did not do him in first.
You know perfectly well why he received the sentence he did: because it was the maximum, and he had committed the most egregious form of the crime charged. It furthers the denunciatory element of sentencing. It also serves to lessen the chance of any future judge who might be inclined to hand out a kiss on the basis that "Madoff stole billions and he only got X years, so you only deserve to get X-Y years".
I find it endlessly fascinating that you attempt to buttress your assertion that Madoff's sentence is "absurd" and a "joke" by pointing to manifestly (even obscenely) too lenient sentences - which you didn't feel the need to tag with any pejorative.
Shalom Weiss is serving an 845 year sentence. Keith Pound was serving 740 years and died in prison. Norman Schmidt is serving 330 years. These are all similar US white collar crimes involving huge sums of money. One of Madoff's victims committed suicide and likely others will have their lives cut short because of Madoff's actions. The sentence may not have realistic meaning beyond ensuring he will die in prison, but it is in keeping with other US sentences and, therefore, seems appropriate.
Well, I'm outvoted by the readers here ... .
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