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Ex-Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort sentenced to 47 months for fraud in Mueller case
- A federal judge on Thursday sentences President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort to serve 47 months in prison.
- Manafort had been convicted in the Virginia court last summer on eight counts of bank fraud, tax fraud and failing to file a foreign bank account report.
- "He has lived an otherwise blameless life," the judge says of Manafort, a central figure in the special counsel's Russia probe.
A federal judge on Thursday sentenced President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort to serve 47 months in prison, a far shorter length of time than prosecutors in the case had argued for.
The decision from federal judge T.S. Ellis in Virginia comes less than a week before Manafort's second sentencing hearing in another case in Washington, D.C., district court. Both cases were brought on charges lodged by special counsel Robert Mueller in his ongoing probe of Russia's election meddling and possible collusion with the Trump campaign.
Manafort, seated in a wheelchair and clad in a green prison jumpsuit during the hearing, spoke of the hardship he has faced as a prime figure in the high-profile Mueller investigation.
"The last two years have been the most difficult for my family and I," Manafort said in his plea for compassion from the judge.
"To say I have been humiliated and ashamed would be a gross understatement," he said.
Before delivering his sentence, Ellis said that Manafort has "been a good friend to others, a generous person."
The judge added: "He has lived an otherwise blameless life."
[…...]
In a sentencing memo last week, Manafort's attorneys argued that Manafort should receive a sentence "substantially below" the 19-to-24-year prison length suggested by federal guidelines. Manafort is a "first-time offender," they wrote, and noted that he admitted his guilt on separate charges launched by Mueller in Washington, D.C., federal court.
Ellis apparently agreed that the guidelines were too high, calling the calculated range "excessive."
[…….]
- A federal judge on Thursday sentences President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort to serve 47 months in prison.
- Manafort had been convicted in the Virginia court last summer on eight counts of bank fraud, tax fraud and failing to file a foreign bank account report.
- "He has lived an otherwise blameless life," the judge says of Manafort, a central figure in the special counsel's Russia probe.
A federal judge on Thursday sentenced President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort to serve 47 months in prison, a far shorter length of time than prosecutors in the case had argued for.
The decision from federal judge T.S. Ellis in Virginia comes less than a week before Manafort's second sentencing hearing in another case in Washington, D.C., district court. Both cases were brought on charges lodged by special counsel Robert Mueller in his ongoing probe of Russia's election meddling and possible collusion with the Trump campaign.
Manafort, seated in a wheelchair and clad in a green prison jumpsuit during the hearing, spoke of the hardship he has faced as a prime figure in the high-profile Mueller investigation.
"The last two years have been the most difficult for my family and I," Manafort said in his plea for compassion from the judge.
"To say I have been humiliated and ashamed would be a gross understatement," he said.
Before delivering his sentence, Ellis said that Manafort has "been a good friend to others, a generous person."
The judge added: "He has lived an otherwise blameless life."
[…...]
In a sentencing memo last week, Manafort's attorneys argued that Manafort should receive a sentence "substantially below" the 19-to-24-year prison length suggested by federal guidelines. Manafort is a "first-time offender," they wrote, and noted that he admitted his guilt on separate charges launched by Mueller in Washington, D.C., federal court.
Ellis apparently agreed that the guidelines were too high, calling the calculated range "excessive."
[…….]
Personal tax and bank fraud... Mueller's fishing expedition is coming along nicely. Soon to find out someone on Trump's campaign overtipped a Russian waiter, clearly a bribe for Putin.
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