The Texan tycoon’s bizarre and lengthy trial came to its conclusion in Houston on Thursday after Stanford and his victims had addressed the court.

Showing no contrition, Stanford, 62, told the court: “If I live the rest of my life in prison, I will always be at peace with the way I conducted myself in business.”

He accused the prosecution of “Gestapo” tactics and said they had ruined a legitimate business.

In court one of his victims, Angela Shaw, told the judge: “Allen Stanford has stolen more than billions of dollars. He took our lives as we knew them.” She said some 28,000 people had lost money in the scam.

Shaw asked for other victims in the court to stand and half the gallery rose to their feet, according to court reports.

Prosecutors said Stanford had treated his victims like “roadkill”. They had asked for a prison sentence spanning more than two centuries, calling him a “ruthless predator” who stole from investors “simply to satisfy his own greed and vanity.”

After a jury convicted Stanford in March on 13 of 14 fraud-related counts, prosecutors called on US district judge David Hittner to sentence Stanford to 230 years in prison, the maximum sentence for all his convictions.

Stanford has been in jail since his arrest in June 2009 and his attorneys asked for a maximum of 44 months, a sentence he could complete within about eight months because of the time he has already served.

The trial was delayed after Stanford’s defence team claimed their client had lost his memory following a vicious prison beating following a dispute over a telephone call.

The 6ft 4in Texan was arrested three years ago after the police tracked him down to a modest townhouse in Fredericksburg, Virginia, owned by one of his girlfriends.