More jail time, new indictment for Manafort
WASHINGTON — Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was sentenced to a total of 7 years in prison Wednesday after a federal judge rejected his appeal for no additional time and rebuked him for his crimes and years of lies.
Within minutes of the sentencing, prosecutors in New York brought state charges against Manafort — a move that appeared at least partly designed to guard against the possibility that President Donald Trump could pardon him. The president can pardon federal crimes but not state offenses.
U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson sentenced Manafort to nearly 3 years in prison on charges that he misled the U.S. government about his foreign lobbying work and encouraged witnesses to lie on his behalf. That punishment is on top of a roughly four-year sentence he received last week in a separate case in Virginia. He is expected to get credit for the nine months of jail time he’s done already.
Manafort was among the first people charged in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian election interference, and though the allegations did not relate to his work for Trump, his foreign entanglements and business relationship with a man the U.S. says has ties to Russian intelligence have made him a pivotal figure in the probe.
Though the judge made clear that the case against Manafort had nothing to do with Russian interference, she scolded Manafort’s lawyers for asserting that their client was only charged because prosecutors couldn’t get him on crimes related to potential collusion with the Trump campaign.
“The no-collusion mantra is simply a non sequitur,” she said, suggesting that those arguments were meant for an audience outside the courtroom — presumably a reference to the president,
who has expressed sympathy for Manafort and not ruled out a pardon.
Asked Wednesday whether he intends to pardon Manafort, Trump said: “I have not given it even a thought, as of this moment . ... I do feel badly for Paul Manafort, that I can tell you.”
Jackson harshly criticized Manafort for years of deception that extended even into her courtroom and the grand jury. She said much of the information he provided to prosecutors after pleading guilty couldn’t be used because of his history of deceit.
“It is hard to overstate the number of lies and the amount of fraud and the extraordinary amount of money involved” in the federal conspiracy charges related to his foreign lobbying work and witness tampering, the judge said.
Reading from a three-page statement,
Manafort, 69, asked the court for mercy and said the criminal charges against him have “taken everything from me already.” He pleaded with the judge not to impose any additional time beyond the sentence he had received last week in a separate case in Virginia.
“I am sorry for what I have done and all the activities that have gotten us here today,” Manafort said. “While I cannot undo the past, I will ensure that the future will be very different.”
Manfort, who arrived in a wheelchair, said he is the primary caregiver of his wife.
“She needs me and I need her. I ask you to think of this and our need for each other as you deliberate. This case has taken everything from me already — my properties, my cash, my life insurance, my trust accounts for my children and my grandchildren, and more.”
His plea for leniency followed prosecutor Andrew Weissmann’s scathing characterization of crimes that the government said spanned more than a decade and continued even while Manafort was awaiting trial. The prosecutor said Manafort took steps to conceal his foreign lobbying work, laundered millions of dollars to fund a lavish lifestyle and then, while on house arrest, coached other witnesses to lie.
“I believe that is not reflective of someone who has learned a harsh lesson. It is not a reflection of remorse,” Weissmann said.
Defense lawyer Kevin Downing criticized Jackson’s sentencing as “callous,” “hostile” and “totally unnecessary,” but he was shouted down by protesters.
The charges against Manafort in a 16-count indictment in New York deal with residential mortgage fraud. The charges stem from the same conduct that led to his federal conviction — that he allegedly submitted false information to banks while seeking loans.