The brother of imprisoned financier Bernard Madoff was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in prison for crimes committed in the shadow of his notorious sibling by a judge who said she disbelieved his claims that he did not know about the epic fraud. Peter Madoff, 67, had agreed when he pleaded guilty in June to serve the maximum sentence allowable to the charges of conspiracy and falsifying the books and records of an investment adviser. He follows to prison his 74-year-old brother, who is serving a 150-year sentence after admitting he created a fraud so large decades ago that thousands of people lost $20 billion. U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain urged Peter Madoff, of Old Westbury, to tell the truth even now. The judge said Peter Madoff, wearing a well-tailored charcoal suit, was "frankly not believable" when he claimed at his plea that he only learned of the fraud when his brother revealed it to him just before he surrendered to authorities. Peter Madoff spoke briefly Thursday and less emotionally than in June, saying: "I am deeply ashamed of my conduct and have tried to atone by pleading guilty and have agreed to forfeit all of my present and future assets." He added: "I am profoundly sorry that my failures let many people down, including my loved ones." Two investors, among 40 who wrote victim impact statements, spoke during the proceeding, each describing the financial ruins of their extended family. Investor Michael T. De Vita, 62, also called for truth, saying he believed "it to be physically impossible for a single person to carry out such a gargantuan task all by himself." De Vita said investors "have waited four years for others to accept responsibility for this massive crime. We are still waiting for that today. All of this was preventable if only one person was willing to do the right thing and stop this in its tracks years ago. Peter Madoff could have been that person," he said. Amy Luria Nissenbaum, 49, choking up at times, also complained that Peter Madoff had chosen even after his plea to "turn a blind eye," saying her home was in foreclosure and some days she struggles to "clothe and feed my children." Nissenbaum said Peter Madoff was part of his brother's fraud for more than 30 years and he should serve the same amount of time in prison. When Swain announced that Peter Madoff will not have to report to prison until Feb. 6, Nissenbaum laughed out loud bitterly. The delay in reporting to prison will let Peter Madoff attend his granddaughter's Bat Mitzvah on Jan. 19. He got into a BMW after he left the courthouse. The judge noted that 10 years was the maximum sentence allowed by the charges to which Madoff had pled and repeatedly urged Madoff to relieve the pain of investors by revealing more about the Madoff business. I challenge you to be honest about all that you have done and all that you have seen. In other words, all that you know," she said. The magnitude of the damage done by the Madoffs cannot be underestimated, she said. "Trust in financial institutions, thousands of individual lives and numerous charitable organizations have been blown apart," she said.