Madoff says he's sorry for "error of judgment"

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bernard Madoff's victims gasped and cheered when he was sentenced to 150 years in prison, but they walked away knowing little more about how he carried out the biggest robbery in Wall Street history.

In one of the most dramatic courtroom conclusions to a corporate fraud case, the 71-year-old swindler was unemotional as he was berated by distraught investors during the 90-minute proceeding.

He was allowed to wear his signature charcoal gray suit, dark tie and white shirt to his day of reckoning instead of a jailhouse jumpsuit, making him look more like the respected money manager he once was considered than an inmate.

Some 250 onlookers gathered in an ornate, wood-paneled ceremonial courtroom, the only one in the U.S. District Courthouse in Manhattan large enough to accommodate such a crowd. When Madoff stood to speak, they seemed eager to hear him.

Many former clients had hoped he would shed more light on his crime and explain why he victimized so many for so long.

But he did not.

Madoff called his crime "an error of judgment" and his "failure," reiterating previous statements that he alone was responsible for the $65 billion investment fraud.

His victims said they did not hear much new from Madoff in his five-minute statement. They also said they did not believe anything he said.

As he handed down the maximum penalty allowed, U.S. District Judge Denny Chin indicated that he did not think Madoff had been fully candid or cooperative with authorities still investigating the fraud and what happened to investors' billions.

"I simply do not get the sense that Mr. Madoff has done all that he could or told all that he knows," Chin said.

Madoff has been jailed since pleading guilty to 11 criminal charges in March, when he admitted to running the Ponzi scheme, which lasted two decades and crushed investors in the United States and elsewhere.

In his courtroom statement, Madoff said he knew his apologies were inadequate.

Madoff, who had been facing the judge, briefly turned in the direction of the crowd and said, "I know that this doesn't help you."

They agreed.

"I didn't buy a word of it. Not a word," said Ron Weinstein, 62, whose wife spoke in court about losing money to Madoff.

"He'd steal from anyone. He'd steal from his mother if she was still alive."

(Reporting by Martha Graybow, Additional reporting by Michael Erman; Editing by Toni Reinhold)