Bernard Madoff, the convicted mastermind behind one of the biggest financial frauds in U.S. history, was ordered Monday to serve 150 years in prison, the maximum sentence allowed.

Madoff pleaded guilty in March to running a massive Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors of some $50 billion dollars. The 11 criminal counts against him include fraud, money laundering, perjury, false filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and other crimes.

Shortly before receiving his sentence, Madoff offered an apology, saying “I live in a tormented state for all the pain and suffering I created. I left a legacy of shame. It is something I will live with for the rest of my life.”

Federal District Judge Denny Chin then sentenced the 71 year-old Madoff to 150 years behind bars, three times as long as the federal probation office suggested and more than 10 times as long as defense lawyers had requested. Chin said it was important that the severity of the sentence serve as a deterrent to future offenders and that “The message must be sent that Mr. Madoff’s crimes were extraordinarily evil.”

Madoff was the former chairman of the NASDAQ stock exchange and a respected figure on Wall Street for nearly half-a-century. In Washington, regulators had sought his advice on any number of regulatory issues over the years.

Many victims of the Ponzi scheme broke out in applause after the sentence was announced. Outside the courtroom they praised the sentence but were skeptical that it would help prevent future fraud.

For more we are joined on the telephone by financial journalist, Bethany McLean. She is a contributing editor at Vanity Fair and the former editor at large and columnist for Fortune magazine where she helped expose the 2001 Enron scandal. She is co-author of “The Smartest Guys in the Room.”

Bethany McLean, a contributing editor at Vanity Fair. She is a former editor at large and columnist for Fortune magazine where she helped expose the 2001 Enron scandal. She is co-author of “The Smartest Guys in the Room.”

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