A long-time executive at Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in facilitating the massive, multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme.

The brokerage firm’s former director of operations, Daniel Bonventre, was sentenced to 10 years in prison in a Manhattan federal court for his role in the largest Ponzi scheme in history. He was also ordered to forfeit more than US$155.5 billion.

Back in March, Bonventre was convicted of 22 counts of securities fraud, bank fraud, tax fraud, falsifying the books and records of Madoff Securities, making false filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and conspiracy. He is appealing the conviction. However, Bonventre was denied bail pending appeal and has been ordered to surrender and begin serving his term on Feb. 19, 2015.

Bonventre worked at Madoff Securities for 40 years and served as its director of operations since approximately 1978, where he was responsible for maintaining and supervising the production of the firm’s internal accounting documents, including its general ledger, financial statements, and stock record. He was charged with directing that false entries be made in the general ledger that concealed the scope of Madoff Securities’ fraudulent investment advisory operations and understated Madoff Securities’ liabilities by billions of dollars.

In imposing the 10-year sentence, U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain observed that by “agree[ing] to facilitate the conduct of business ‘Madoff-style,'” Bonventre committed “despicable” and “literally, devastatingly serious crimes,” that were “at all times a key to [Madoff’s] success,” and which caused “financial devastation of unprecedented magnitude.”

“Daniel Bonventre was Bernard Madoff’s director of operations, and his partner in crime. For decades, Bonventre used his skills to help hide Madoff’s massive Ponzi scheme, and to funnel stolen customer money out of the fraudulent investment business,” said U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bharara. “Bonventre was sentenced to 10 years in prison and financial penalties that will rob him of his ill-gotten wealth – a punishment that fits Bonventre’s central role in the biggest financial fraud in history.”