Lloyd: What are the chances of a guy like you and a girl like me... ending up together?Mary: Well, that's pretty difficult to say.Lloyd: Hit me with it! I've come a long way to see you, Mary. The least you can do is level with me. What are my chances?Mary: Not good.Lloyd: You mean, not good like one out of a hundred?Mary: I'd say more like one out of a million.[pause]Lloyd: So you're telling me there's a chance.

I think this scene from Dumb and Dumber is probably pretty close to a transcript of the conversation that occurred between Bernard Madoff and his attorney on the subject of whether Madoff could successfully seek leniency in his sentencing on June 29.

According to a CNBC report, Madoff's attorney Ira Lee Sorkin has filed a letter with the court in the SDNY seeking leniency and asking that Madoff be sentenced to as little as 12 years in prison, when he will be 83 years old. Madoff faces up to 150 years in prison after pleading guilty to 11 felony counts related to his massive Ponzi scheme. Sorkin's letter to Judge Denny Chin also states that Madoff plans to speak at the sentencing hearing.