Manafort bond package set at $10 million

Trump campaign manager pledges four properties

A federal judge Friday said a bail package has been put together that would release former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort from home confinement in his condominium in Virginia and allow him to reside at his house in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., but under a nightly curfew and on GPS monitoring.

Judge Amy Berman Jackson approved the release package that severely limits his domestic travel and bans international travel. It also requires Manafort to use four of his properties to secure a $10 million bond he would lose if he fails to return for court appearances.

The release terms took more than six weeks to negotiate after Manafort pleaded not guilty Oct. 30 in the first charges in the probe by special counsel Robert Mueller of Russian influence in the 2016 presidential election.

Manafort, 68, and his longtime deputy, Rick Gates, 45, have pleaded not guilty to charges of money laundering and fraud in connection with his work advising a Russia-friendly political party in Ukraine

In the wake of Manafort’s arrest, his defense team and prosecutors had said they expected to strike a bail deal within 48 hours.

But Jackson earlier ruled that “release on personal recognizance with an unsecured appearance bond will not reasonably assure the appearance of the defendant as required,” given his wealth, international network and travel experience.

That left the parties locked in talks over how much of Manafort’s wealth would be enough. The discussions also faced a complicating development in which Jackson warned Manafort not to violate a court gag order in the case through actions like his ghostwriting of a Dec. 7 Ukrainian op-ed article defending work he had done in the country.

Jackson said she will allow Manafort to live in Florida but he must be home nightly from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m.