Lawyer gets 30 days in Russia case
WASHINGTON – A Dutch attorney who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Trump campaign deputy Rick Gates and a Russian intelligence agent was sentenced to 30 days in prison and a $20,000 fine Tuesday.
Alex Van Der Zwaan admitted making false statements about communications with Gates and the unidentified agent who prosecutors referred to as “Person A” as part of the ongoing investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.
Van Der Zwaan is the first person to be sentenced in the inquiry managed by Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller.
U.S. District Judge Amy Jackson rejected the defense request that he be permitted to pay a fine and return home to London.
“We’re not talking about a traffic ticket,” Jackson told Van Der Zwaan, adding that his conduct had taken on greater significance because of the gravity of the investigation that he had been swept into.
“This was not a momentary lapse,” Jackson said. “He was essentially caught red-handed. This was not something that happened to him; this is something he did.
“He put his personal interest ahead of the interests of justice,” the judge said.
Before sentencing, the contrite defendant offered a brief apology.
“What I did was wrong,” Van Der Zwaan told Jackson. “I apologize to the court; I apologize to my wife and family.”
The case involving Van Der Zwaan centered on the attorney’s work in 2012 on a report supporting the prosecution of a chief political rival to the then-president of Ukraine, whose government was aligned with the Kremlin.