June 29 (Bloomberg) -- Bernard Madoff, standing with his hands clasped in front of him, showed no emotion as a judge ordered him to serve the rest of his life in a prison cell.

Madoff, sentenced to 150 years to life for defrauding investors of at least $13 billion, listened impassively as U.S. District Judge Denny Chin rejected a defense lawyer’s claim that victims of his massive Ponzi scheme wanted “mob justice.”

“Mr. Madoff’s crimes were extraordinarily evil,” Chin said. “This was not merely a bloodless financial crime that occurred on paper, but one that took a staggering toll,” Chin told Madoff, who arrived to court in a charcoal gray suit and navy blue tie. “The breach of trust here was massive.”

Madoff, 71, admitted in March that he defrauded investors of billions of dollars over a decades-long Ponzi scheme. Before it came to light, Madoff told his clients that they had as much as $65 billion invested. Prosecutors have so far identified $13 billion in losses.

No one wrote the court on Madoff’s behalf as people do in most cases, Chin said. A crowd of hundreds waited outside the lower-Manhattan courthouse as the sentence was pronounced. Nine victims told Chin how their lives had been devastated.

Madoff sat staring forward or with his eyes lowered, sometimes resting his chin on his hands, as the judge, lawyers and victims spoke.

Victims’ Stories

The victims lambasted him, some saying they are destitute or were forced to sell their homes or resume working instead of enjoying their retirement.

“You have a marriage made in hell,” Tom FitzMaurice told Madoff. “That’s where you are going to return. May God spare you no mercy.”

After the lawyers’ and victims’ statements, Madoff stood and braced himself against a mahogany table to address the judge.

“I live in a tormented state,” he said. “I believed when I started this problem, this crime, it was something I’d be able to work out of. I made a terrible mistake.”

“I refused to accept the fact that only once in my life I failed,” he told the judge in his Queens, New York, accent. “I know I did a great deal of harm. Nothing I can say can correct what I’ve done.”

Then he turned around and, after a slight bow, apologized to about 250 spectators. He faced the side of the room away from the ones who had spoken.

‘I Am Sorry’

“I will live with this pain for the rest of my life,” Madoff said. “I am sorry. I know that doesn’t help.”

He resumed his seat to hear Chin’s summary of the crime and the reasoning behind his sentence.

At the end, Madoff rose, the judge imposed the maximum penalty, and the courtroom erupted in applause and shouts.

Several victims brushed away tears as Madoff, who wasn’t handcuffed, was led out a side door by two U.S. marshals.

Only once in the 95-minute proceeding did Madoff, seated by his lawyer, appear to show emotion. When Chin said Madoff didn’t appear to have “done all that he could do or told all that he knows,” he gulped and dropped his head.

The case is U.S. v. Madoff, 09-cr-00213, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

To contact the reporters on this story: David Glovin in New York federal court at dglovin@bloomberg.net.; Patricia Hurtado in New York at pathurtado@bloomberg.net; Thom Weidlich in New York at tweidlich@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: June 29, 2009 16:00 EDT