Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/madoff-sentenced-to-150-years-in-prison-for-ponzi-scheme Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript Disgraced financier Bernard Madoff was sentenced Monday to 150 years in prison after pleading guilty in March to defrauding investors out of as much as $60 billion. Ray Suarez talks to New York Times reporter Diana Henriques about the day in court. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. JUDY WOODRUFF: Now the sentencing of Bernard Madoff for the largest Ponzi scheme in history.The presiding judge told the convicted money manager today that his crimes were "extraordinarily evil" and sentenced him to 150 years in jail. Madoff, who defrauded investors in a scheme totaling tens of billions of dollars, apologized to victims in the courtroom. He told them, quote, "I made a mistake, and I know that doesn't help you."He also said, "I cannot offer you an excuse for my behavior. How do you excuse betraying thousands of investors who entrusted me with their life savings?"Those words were of no comfort to a large crowd of investors gathered outside the courthouse today.MICHAEL DEVITA, Madoff victim: This is the biggest crime in the history of the universe, and he should be punished accordingly. This is a man who stole $65 billion. Nobody else has ever come close to $65 billion in theft. He has absolutely no remorse.BURT ROSS, Madoff victim: It's a solemn moment. I think that our judicial system, we have a right to be proud of it. It was handled with dignity, and justice was done. This has nothing to do with revenge or vengeance. This is a crime of historical proportions, and he was meted out justice, and that's fair.