A Manhasset woman who worked as Bernie Madoff’s assistant was sentenced Tuesday to serve six years in prison.
Annette Bongiorno, 66, was sentenced in Manhattan by U.S. District Judge Laura Swain, the court said.
She was found guilty in March of documenting nonexistent trades for Madoff, a former resident of Roslyn.
Bongiorno began working for Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities in 1968, and testified in court that she did not know anything illegal was going on at the firm.
Published reports said that the courts gave leniency to Bongiorno because of her small stature – 4 foot 7 inches – arguing that it would have made her time behind bars hard.
Swain, who is 5 foot 2 inches according to the Daily News, also cited Bongiorno’s poor health as a reason for her sentence, according to publish reports, including those from The New York Daily News and Newsday.
Prosecutors had asked ask for a 20-year sentence.
Madoff pleaded guilty in 2009 to frauding investors out of $17 billion. He is currently serving a 15-year prison sentence.
Jerome O’Hara, 51, of Malverne, was also sentenced Tuesday to serve two and a half years in prison, the court said. O’Hara worked as a computer programmer for Madoff.
