Paul Manafort’s attorney Kevin Downing emerged from court after the sentencing and said his client “accepts responsibility for his conduct.” “I think what most importantly what you saw today is the same thing that we said from day one.
Full Answer
Earlier today, Manafort was sentenced in a DC court to serve an additional 43 months in prison on top of his sentence he received last week from the court in Virginia. Manafort will serve a total of seven and a half years in prison for two cases.
There is absolutely no evidence that Paul Manafort was involved in any collusion with any government official from Russia," Downing said.
New charges in New York: The Manhattan District Attorney's office charged Manafort with mortgage fraud, falsifying business records and conspiracy on Wednesday, not even an hour after he was sentenced today. What President Trump said: The President said he feels "badly" for Manafort, and that he hasn't thought about pardoning him.
The restitution: Judge TS Ellis set Manafort's restitution payment in a range from $6 million to almost $25 million because it's not yet clear how much money Manafort will relinquish to the federal government in his forfeiture proceeding.
The sentence: After today's hearing, Manafort's total sentence is seven and a half years in two cases stemming from special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia ...
What we covered here 1 Paul Manafort sentenced: The former Trump campaign chairman will serve a total of seven and a half years in prison for two cases. 2 The charges: Today's sentencing was for two charges: conspiracy against the US and conspiracy to obstruct justice for attempting to tamper with witnesses.
Paul Manafort has been charged with a new criminal case not even an hour after learning his prison sentence for federal crimes. The Manhattan District Attorney charged Manafort with mortgage fraud, falsifying business records and conspiracy on Wednesday, the prosecutor’s office announced.
New charges in New York: The Manhattan District Attorney's office charged Manafort with mortgage fraud, falsifying business records and conspiracy on Wednesday, not even an hour after he was sentenced today. What President Trump said: The President said he feels "badly" for Manafort, and that he hasn't thought about pardoning him.
Manafort could face years in prison in the New York case. The Manhattan District Attorney's office today charged Paul Manafort with mortgage fraud, falsifying business records and conspiracy. Manafort could face years in prison if he's convicted for the charges.
Manafort had made broad admissions and apologized for his crimes. He has not yet entered a plea in the Manhattan case. Manafort allegedly committed financial crimes in New York from 2015 through 2018, which stretches over his time as Trump campaign chairman.
Kevin Downing, Paul Manafort's attorney, just gave a brief statement outside of the courthouse following the sentencing. He started by saying Judge Amy Berman Jackson "conceded that there was absolutely no evidence of any Russian collusion in this case.".
Paul Manafort sentenced: The former Trump campaign chairman was sentenced to 47 months in prison.
Paul Manafort was sentenced to prison today for convictions stemming from special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
When Judge TS Ellis gave Paul Manafort his sentence, it wasn't a clear-cut four years for all his crimes. Instead, Ellis gave Manafort several penalties of prison time that will all run simultaneously.
Attorney Kevin Downing speaks with reporters Thursday following the sentencing of his client former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, in Alexandria, Virginia. AP Photo/Cliff Owen
Paul Manafort's lawyer Kevin Downing requested in court that Manafort serve his time in a federal prison camp in Cumberland, Maryland.
Judge TS Ellis gave Paul Manafort credit for the nine months he's spent in jail, after a different judge revoked his bond last June.
There were no cameras allowed in the courtroom when Paul Manafort was sentenced today in Virginia.
Manafort's lawyers argued in their sentencing memo on Monday that "but for" Mueller's appointment, there was a good chance Manafort wouldn't have faced criminal charges, at least not for his failure to register as an agent for the Ukrainian government; that work predated his time in 2016 as chair of President Donald Trump's campaign. He would have filed the required forms and been done with it, they contend.
As for the attempts at witness tampering, they argu ed that the "handful of short or ignore d telephone calls and text messages" that Manafort engaged in was less serious than cases where witnesses were bribed or threat ened.
Scott Hechinger, who works as a public defender in New York, highlighted cases where suspects got harsher sentences. Just a day earlier, he said, his client was offered a sentence of between 36 to 72 months for stealing $100 in quarters from a residential laundry room.
Others brought up the case of Kalief Browder, who was 16 when he was arrested in New York and spent three years behind bars without being convicted of a crime. He was later charged with robbery and released in 2013 when the charges against him were dropped. He killed himself two years later.
6:57 p.m.: Manafort was sentenced to 47 months in prison, a significantly shorter sentence than prosecutors had sought.
6:18 p.m.: Manafort addressed the court during his sentencing hearing, saying "the last two years have been the most difficult of my life."
5:03 p.m.: About an hour after the hearing began, Judge T.S. Ellis was still hearing objections from both sides about their pre-sentence reports.
Manafort's lawyers argued in a sentencing memo filed Friday that the charges are outside the special counsel's mandate to investigate Russian collusion in the 2016 presidential election.
A federal judge ruled last month Manafort had breached his plea agreement with Mueller's office by lying to the FBI, a federal grand jury and the special counsel. " [T]he Office of Special Counsel is no longer bound by its obligations under the plea agreement," Judge Amy Berman Jackson said in a ruling after a hearing in Washington.
In August, Manafort was found guilty on five counts of tax fraud, one count of failing to disclose his foreign bank accounts and two counts of bank fraud.