Washington - Bernard Madoff, convicted of a 65-billion- dollar Ponzi scheme, hopes to be sentenced to 12 years in jail for his crimes, according to a letter filed in court Tuesday by his lawyers.

Madoff pleaded guilty in March to the biggest financial fraud in history and is to be sentenced on Monday in a New York federal court.

He faces up to 150 years in prison. Lawyer Ira Sorkin wrote that Madoff should be sentenced to 12 years in jail, or 20 years at the most.

More than 100 victims of the fraud scheme wrote letters earlier this month to Judge Denny Chin, who will decide Madoff's fate. Many families described losing their entire life savings and called for the harshest sentence possible.

Sorkin urged the judge to take into account that Madoff "accepted full responsibility for his actions and expressed regret and remorse for those victimized by his scheme."(dpa)