Tancredo speaks bluntly about Madoff

DENVER - About 70 people in Colorado lost money to Bernard Madoff and his elaborate but fake $65 billion Ponzi scheme.
- Bernard Madoff gets maximum 150 years in prison

Their backgrounds are diverse.

There's a wealthy developer from Aspen, a woman who ran her own cooking school and a former U.S. Congressman. For a decade, Tom Tancredo represented Colorado's 6th District and later became a 2008 Republican presidential candidate.

He rarely bit his tongue when it came to topics like illegal immigration and he certainly won't bite his tongue when sharing his thoughts on what he believes Madoff's 150-year prison sentence, which was handed down on Monday.

"I think I probably would've sold tickets and let the highest bidder come beat him up with a baseball bat and then divide up the money among all the people that he stung," Tancredo said with a laugh.

Tancredo says he didn't know the investments he had made were linked to Madoff until after the Ponzi scheme was uncovered.

In all, Tancredo lost an estimated $1 million. He says a good day is one that he doesn't think about Madoff and the pain he's caused.

"My wife and I lost our whole life savings essentially and it can consume you, it can eat you up emotionally. I know people that that's happened to, and to avoid it you have to get past it," Tancredo said.

That's probably easier said than done for Madoff's victims, many of whom lost their life's savings like Tancredo. There's been intense attention and coverage on Madoff and the extravagant life he led. As much anger and frustration Tancredo holds towards Madoff, he wonders about who else should answer for the crimes.

"He could be a brilliant guy I don't care how brilliant he is, nobody could pull of a scam like this by himself," Tancredo said.

Tancredo added that maybe he will learn more about Madoff in the books that will likely be written about one of the largest scams in history. Tancredo joked that maybe Madoff will write his own book because he'll have plenty of time on his hands.