Three-year jail term for Cohen
Trump’s former lawyer and fixer sentenced for an array of crimes |
Michael Cohen, who as President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer and fixer once vowed he would “take a bullet” for his boss, was yesterday sentenced to three years in prison for an array of crimes that included arranging the payment of hush money to two women that he says was done at the direction of Trump.
The sentence was in line with what federal prosecutors asked for. Sentencing guidelines called for around four to five years behind bars, and prosecutors asked in court papers that Cohen be given only a slight break. He is ordered to surrender March 6.
Cohen, standing alone at the defence table, shook his head slightly and closed his eyes briefly as the sentence was announced by the judge.
US District Judge William H. Pauley III said Cohen deserved modest credit for his decision over the summer to admit guilt and cooperate in a federal investigation of efforts by Russians to influence the presidential election, but his assistance “does not wipe the slate clean.”
Cohen told the judge just before he was sentenced that loyalty to Trump led him astray.
“It was my blind loyalty to this man that led me to take a path of darkness instead of light,” he said. “I felt it was my duty to cover up his dirty deeds.”
Cohen’s lawyers had argued for leniency, saying he decided to cooperate with investigators rather than hold out for a possible pardon.
“He came forward to offer evidence against the most powerful person in our country,” Cohen’s lawyer said.