Two Victims
Two victims of the Madoff fraud, Michael T. DeVita and Amy Luria Nissenbaum, addressed the court.
‘‘I ask that you show the same degree of compassion for Peter Madoff that he showed for us -- none,” DeVita said, urging Swain to set aside Madoff’s plea agreement and sentence him to more than 10 years.
“He benefited from this scam for over 30 years and he should be in prison for the same amount of time,” Nissenbaum told Swain. She objected to Madoff’s request to attend the bat mitzvah.
“I find it unacceptable that he has an opportunity to attend a family event and I feel he should go away today,” she said.
150 Years
Anthony Sabino, who teaches law at St. John’s University in New York, said many victims of the Madoff fraud are unlikely to be satisfied with Peter Madoff’s sentence, particularly in comparison with the 150 years his brother received.
“Ten years -- it just seems to be on the low end of the scale,” Sabino said.
In papers filed with the court, Peter Madoff’s lawyer, John R. Wing, said his client was “a victim of his brother’s Ponzi scheme.” Peter Madoff’s “world was shattered” when his brother disclosed the fraud to him, Wing said in the letter, which was made public this week.
Peter Madoff’s guilty plea to two criminal charges came three years to the day after his brother was sentenced to 150 years in prison. During his plea hearing, Peter Madoff told the court he had no knowledge of Bernard Madoff’s scheme until Dec. 9, 2008, the night his brother confessed to him that the investment business was a sham. Bernard Madoff was arrested and confessed to authorities two days later, on Dec. 11.