Trump fixer Cohen shaken by three-year prison sentence
A federal judge sentenced Michael Cohen, the president’s longtime lawyer and self-described fixer, to three years in prison Wednesday for his role in a series of criminal schemes, some of which Cohen tearfully blamed on “blind loyalty to Donald Trump.”
Cohen, once among Trump’s most aggressive and loyal acolytes, had asked to be spared prison time, and he told the judge that he’s tried to make amends by cooperating with law enforcement.
“My departure as a loyal soldier for the pres-
ident bears a very hefty price,” he said.
Trump last month slammed his former confidant and attorney as a “weak person,” but Cohen, 52, pushed back with an emotional speech in court.
“My weakness can be characterized as a blind loyalty to Donald Trump,” he said.
The 36-month sentence fell short of the four years that prosecutors had recommended but it still shook Cohen and members of his family who crowded into the packed federal courtroom
in lower Manhattan.
While U.S. District Judge William H. Pauley III read the sentence, Cohen shook his head, his wife clutched their son and their daughter trembled with violent sobs.
“Mr. Cohen pleaded guilty to a veritable smorgasbord of illegal conduct,” Pauley said. “Each of the crimes involved deception and each appears to have been motivated by personal gain and ambition.”
Cohen is scheduled to report to federal prison in upstate New York on March 6. He also was ordered to pay $500,000 in forfeiture, $1.39 million in back taxes and $100,000 in fines.
Cohen pleaded guilty to
eight criminal charges in August, including two violations of campaign finance law that involved arranging hush-money payments shortly before the 2016 presidential election — at Trump’s behest, prosecutors and Cohen said — to two women who had claimed they had extramarital affairs with Trump years ago.
One of the women, porn actress Stormy Daniels, was paid $130,000 by Cohen. The other, former Playboy playmate Karen McDougal, was paid $150,000 by American Media Inc., a publishing company run by a Trump ally.
The president has denied having the affairs, and he’s
claimed the payments had nothing to do with his campaign. However, that explanation was dealt another blow Wednesday when the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan announced a deal with American Media Inc.
As part of the agreement, the company won’t face criminal charges and it admitted paying McDougal “to suppress the woman’s story so as to prevent it from influencing the election.”
At least one unidentified campaign member joined Cohen in an August 2015 meeting with David Pecker, the publisher of the National Enquirer, to discuss suppressing negative news
stories during the election, the U.S. said.
Prosecutors’ reference to unidentified campaign staff suggests that the number of Trump associates in legal trouble is still expanding.
Cohen also could pose a threat to Trump as part of the Russia investigation led by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III.
Last month he pleaded guilty to a ninth charge of lying to two congressional committees about a proposed Moscow hotel and condominium project that Trump had pursued during the campaign.
In a sentencing memo last week, the special counsel’s office said Cohen has provided “useful information
concerning certain discrete Russia-related matters core to (the special counsel) investigation.”
Jeannie Rhee, a member of Mueller’s team, told Pauley on Wednesday that Cohen “has sought to tell us the truth, and that is of the utmost value to us.”
The hush-money case could prove more significant than aspects of the Russia probe, however.
Cohen admitted the hush-money payments were intended to influence the election, and prosecutors said they can prove the president’s involvement.