Madoff faces possible life sentence

NEW YORK, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- Cooperating with authorities could keep New York trader Bernard Madoff from dying in prison if he is convicted in a massive fraud case, an attorney said.

With the point system judges frequently use to establish sentencing one conviction could give Madoff more than enough points for a life sentence, Newsday reported Wednesday.

A $400 million fraud conviction would give Madoff 30 points, the newspaper said. Totals beyond 43 points are life-in-prison sentences, the newspaper said.

Madoff, 70, has been accused of running his investment business as a Ponzi scheme, a fraud which pays dividends out of new investment money rather than legitimate earnings.

Losses in the scheme are reportedly $50 billion, among the largest in history.

"Given the amount of the alleged loss, the nature and extent of his cooperation will be the key to his effort to reduce the sentence," said Carl Loewenson, a former Manhattan prosecuting attorney.

Attorneys said Madoff's cooperation obtaining other convictions and his help recovering lost money would be his best way to reduce his sentence. Even then, a minimum sentence of 10 years could, in effect, be a life sentence for a man of Madoff's age, the newspaper said.