BERNARD MADOFF should get 12 years in prison, his attorney said yesterday, arguing that the sentence would be sufficient punishment for the former broker who committed one of history’s biggest frauds.

The request for leniency was made in advance of Madoff’s sentencing, scheduled in the US for Monday. Madoff (71) faces up to 150 years in prison after pleading guilty to carrying out a $65 billion “Ponzi” scheme that has claimed thousands of victims globally.

Madoff would “speak to the shame he has felt and to the pain he has caused”, at sentencing, wrote Ira Sorkin, his attorney, to Judge Denny Chin this week.

“We seek neither mercy nor sympathy,” Mr Sorkin wrote. But he said it was the duty of the court to “set aside the emotion and hysteria attendant to this case” in rendering its judgment.

Dozens of defrauded investors have sent letters to the judge, describing the loss of their life savings and asking him to ensure that Madoff spends the rest of his life in prison. Some have asked to speak at the sentencing hearing.

Mr Sorkin wrote in his letter, that the court should not give in to “a type of mob vengeance” apparently desired by the victims.

A 12-year jail term for Madoff would be sufficient to address the goals of deterrence, protecting the public and promoting respect for the law, Mr Sorkin wrote.

He said a 15- to 20-year sentence would also achieve the same goals without “disproportionately punishing” his client, compared with sentences for other white-collar criminals.

Jerry Reisman, an attorney who represents victims, said Madoff should receive the maximum sentence. “Madoff should never see the light of day . . . the sentence must be a deterrence to others who may even think of committing a similar crime.”

* A Ponzi scheme is an investment scam that appears to pay high returns, but does so by paying the supposed returns out of victims’ own capital. – (Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009)