He May As Well Kill Someone

So Bernie Madoff, king of all ponzi schemes was sentenced to 150 years in prison.

It’s a federal sentence so there is no parole. He will die in prison.

I think what he did was dispicable. I think what he did deserves punishment. I don’t think what he did was worse than raping someone or killing someone with a car while driving drunk.

People who have committed the latter 2 crimes sometimes see less than 5 years in prison.

There is a radical disconnect in the sentencing guidelines in this country.

The people that invested money with Madoff had a responsibility when they invested. They had to know going in that there was a chance that they would lose every single penny of their money. When dealing with sums that large if you don’t do diligent research into what you are investing in, you should maybe not expect to be defrauded but at least figure that the possibility is fairly substantial.

Large sums of money are like your health. If your doctor tells you something, at times it is prudent to get a second opinion. If you have more than a million dollars to invest. You should talk to and use more than one money manager. Outside of $200,000  in the banking world it is Caveat Emptor. The governement will insure that first $100,00 and another $100,000 in a joint account.

As it stands now, Madoff, wouldn’t really suffer any greater consequence if if killed 10 people on the way to jail if he did it in a non-death penalty state.

Personally I’d rather see him put to work for the rest of his life with his wages garnished to pay back his victims.

Unfortunately all sentencing like this does is send the message, “Don’t fuck with rich people.”  Which just as sadly is what they are going for.