A federal appeals court denied on Friday a request by a lawyer for Bernard L. Madoff that he be released from jail until his sentencing in June for running a $65 billion Ponzi scheme.

The three-judge panel issued its ruling less than 24 hours after Ira Lee Sorkin, Mr. Madoff’s lawyer, had asked that the 70-year-old Mr. Madoff be allowed to return to his Manhattan penthouse apartment. He is being held in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan after pleading guilty last week to 11 felony counts of fraud. He faces a maximum of 150 years in prison when he is sentenced on June 16.

The appeals court order upholds an earlier Federal District Court decision that Mr. Madoff represented a flight risk and should not be released on bail. Mr. Madoff had been held on $10 million bail since his arrest on Dec. 11, confined to his Upper East Side apartment building and protected by security guards, paid for by his wife. He was also required to wear an ankle bracelet and could leave his apartment only for court appearances.

“In light of the defendant’s age (70) and the length of a potential sentence (150 years), he has an incentive to flee, and that because he has the means to do so, he presents a risk of flight, and therefore should not be released,” the appeals court order said. It was issued by Chief Judge Dennis Jacobs and Judges Robert D. Sack and Richard C. Wesley of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.