Fraudster Madoff put to jail after guilty plea

Bloomberg

Madoff, 70, faces a prison term of as long as 150 years when he is sentenced June 16. He entered his guilty plea yesterday in Manhattan federal court, three months after confessing to his sons that Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities was "one big lie." U.S. District Judge Denny Chin ordered the immediate jailing of Madoff, who had been free on $10 million bond.

"I operated a Ponzi scheme through the investment advisory side of my business," Madoff told Chin at Thursday’s hearing in a courtroom packed with victims and members of the media. Speaking for the first time since his arrest on Dec. 11, he said he was "deeply sorry" and knew what he did was criminal.

The money manager told Chin that, in the early 1990s, with the U.S. in a recession, he felt "compelled" to provide the returns his investors expected. He said the proprietary trading and market-making units of his business, both run by his sons, were "legitimate," and his U.K.-based affiliate, Madoff Securities International was an "honestly run" business.

Madoff, wearing a charcoal gray suit and gray tie, showed no emotion as he put his arms behind his back and federal marshals snapped chrome handcuffs onto his wrists. They led him to a holding cell adjacent to the courtroom. Madoff will be placed in the maximum security Metropolitan Correctional Center next door to the courthouse.

Defense lawyer Ira Sorkin filed a notice that he would appeal the jailing of Madoff before his sentencing.

Madoff’s sons, who didn’t attend the hearing, haven’t been accused of any wrongdoing. Their father, who declined to accept a plea deal that people familiar with the case said would have included a conspiracy charge, isn’t required to disclose any information on the fraud or who may have assisted him.