Appeal of Madoff's 150-year sentence wouldn't matter

— -- Bernard Madoff has potential legal grounds to appeal his 150-year prison sentence, but the chances are slim that he could avoid dying behind bars for bilking thousands of investors in a massive Ponzi scheme, sentencing experts said Tuesday.

Federal guidelines state that criminal penalties should be "sufficient but not greater than necessary" to reflect the seriousness of the offense, promote respect for the law, ensure just punishment and provide adequate deterrence of criminal conduct.

In imposing the maximum allowed sentence Monday, U.S. District Judge Denny Chin cited the "extraordinarily evil" nature of an at least $13 billion scam that victimized investors and institutions rich and poor, exacting "a staggering human toll."

The judge also cited deterrence, saying, "The symbolism is important here because the strongest possible message must be sent to those who would engage in similar conduct ... that they will be punished to the fullest extent of the law."

Madoff defense attorney Ira Lee Sorkin called the sentence "absurd" in an NBC Today show appearance Tuesday. "There's nothing in the sentencing guidelines that talks about making symbols of people," he said.

Sorkin said in a subsequent interview he had not decided whether to appeal.

Mark Allenbaugh, a former attorney for the U.S. Sentencing Commission, said if he represented Madoff he'd argue the penalty "was unreasonable on its face" because it was disproportionate to sentences in most other major white-collar-crime cases.

"There's no question there's grounds (for an appeals court) to review it for procedural and substantive reasonableness," said Barry Boss, a co-chair of an American Bar Association sentencing committee.

But a higher court would likely uphold the sentence, because Chin "spoke to the issues" in the guidelines, said Alan Ellis, a National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers past president in California who specializes in federal sentencing and prison issues.