Bloomberg reports on June 26, 2009, that Bernard Madoff’s bid for a 12-year sentence will probably be stymied by his failure to tell U.S. government investigators about those who may have helped him defraud investors of as much as $65 billion.

Madoff faces as many as 150 years in jail when he comes before U.S. District Judge Denny Chin in Manhattan on June 29 for sentencing. Probation officials have recommended Madoff spend the rest of his life in prison. Instead, Madoff asked Chin last week for a sentence that’s half that meted out to the convicted chief executives of Enron Corp. and WorldCom Inc.

Since his Dec. 11 arrest, Madoff, 71, has insisted he acted alone in the largest-ever Ponzi scheme. He took sole responsibility for the fraud when U.S. agents arrested him in December and in his March 12 guilty plea. In a letter this week to Chin, Madoff’s attorney, Ira Sorkin, argued his client has told investigators about his assets and how he duped regulators. Sorkin said nothing about Madoff’s accomplices.

White-collar defense lawyers such as George Jackson, a former federal prosecutor now at Bryan Cave LLP in Chicago, said the judge will be deterred by Madoff’s silence on this issue as he weighs the ex-money manager’s request.

“If he did cooperate, he would open himself up to the possibility of a sentence that would give him a ray of hope of having freedom at some point,” said Jackson, who isn’t involved in the case. If silent, said, Jackson, “The judge could say, ‘I have not heard who you operated with, and it’s clear to me that you operated with someone.’”… Accountant David Friehling was charged with securities fraud in March, the first accused Madoff accomplice. Friehling, 49, denies any wrongdoing. Madoff aides Frank DiPascali, 52, and Annette Bongiorno are under scrutiny by criminal investigators. The Securities and Exchange Commission this week filed civil charges against Cohmad Securities Corp., which fed investments to Madoff, and money manager Stanley Chais.

DiPascali’s lawyer, Marc Mukasey, and Bongornio didn’t return calls seeking comment. Madoff’s wife and sons haven’t been charged and have denied they knew about the scam. Ruth Madoff is fighting an effort by authorities to seize property including her Manhattan apartment….