Defense counsel had asked for a four year sentence based on the relative size of Petters’ fraud vs. Bernie Madoff’s fraud ($64.8 billion) and Madoff’s 150-year sentence. Using similar logic, the penalty for murderers of two people should get 1/84th the penalty meted out to Timothy McVeigh? Again, using “the Madoff measure,” presumably the theft of $200,000 would trigger, what, a 20-minute time-out with no television or gameboy? Minnesota Litigator covers civil litigation but somehow it seems that’s not quite how the sentencing guidelines work.