Quatloos!

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,529322,00.html

Prosecutors are seeking a 150-year prison sentence. The defense has asked for a 12-year term because of Madoff's age.

How can a person pay for that much damage? Our last crooked Bernie got 25 years for a fraud costing investors $11B, so I can't see this one leaving prison alive.

-- Bernard Madoff, the mastermind behind the largest and most sweeping Ponzi scheme ever, sentenced to 150 years in prison.

I initially applauded the sentence. I agree, the man should die in jail. However, the maximum sentence could leave a door open for "cruel and unusual" on appeal. Perhaps, just perhaps, the judge should have sentenced him to 50 years. Enough to amply cover his life expectency, but not so much that an appeal could reasonably be brought.

Am I the only one who views this as a win for Madoff?

Living a life of incredible wealth until very late in life with a certain set of family and associates also set for life without risk of financial deprivation?

On balance, what's the penalty of a decade or so in a prison after all those years of being a kingpin?

True, being extricated from the good life is a stressful change but with an ego like Madoff's he has to be relishing how good he had it at the expense of his victims.

And no one will ever untangle the Gordian knot of the flow of wealth over the years.