After Manafort Is Sentenced, Breaking News: He's Indicted

He faced up to 10 years for illegal lobbying, got 43 additional months
By Newser Editors,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 13, 2019 11:24 AM CDT
Updated Mar 13, 2019 12:20 PM CDT
Manafort Asks for Mercy, and Judge Gives Him a Little
This March 7, 2019, courtroom sketch depicts former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, center in a wheelchair, during his sentencing hearing in federal court before judge T.S. Ellis III in Alexandria, Va.   (Dana Verkouteren via AP)

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was on Wednesday sentenced to 73 months—but just 43 of those months additional, reports CNN—with a judge in Washington showing him a small dose of mercy. In what the AP describes as a "calm and steady voice," Manafort read from a prepared statement, asking US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson to limit his prison time to the 47-month sentence he was handed last week in a separate case related to tax and bank fraud. He faced up to 10 years in this case. Jackson had the ability to make her sentence concurrent; Axios reports 30 months of Manafort's sentence will be served in that manner. More:

  • All told, he'll serve 7.5 years—related to these two cases. After news of his new sentence broke, more breaking news: The Manhattan DA's office has indicted Manafort on state charges alleging he ran a yearlong mortgage fraud scheme.
  • The New York Times reports he faces 16 counts related to millions of dollars in loans he got after allegedly falsifying business records. Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance, Jr., said the investigation into Manafort, begun in 2017, "yielded serious criminal charges for which the defendant has not been held accountable."
  • But that investigation was paused to allow federal prosecutors to also look into the loans; the Virginia case included counts related to them, and Manafort was found guilty. As such, the Times predicts Manafort's lawyers will cite double jeopardy in challenging the indictment.
  • The AP reports New York's move is being viewed as a safeguard against a possible presidential pardon, as President Trump can only grant pardons in federal cases.

  • Wednesday's sentence is tied to the 69-year-old's efforts to conceal his lobbying work for a pro-Russia Ukrainian political party from the government, and in court, Manafort offered an apology. In doing so, the Washington Post notes he acknowledged he didn't do the same before receiving his first sentence. ABC News has the specific lines: "In my previous elocution, I told Judge Ellis that I was ashamed at my conduct that brought me into his court, and for that, I said I took responsibility. Apparently I was not as clear at saying what was in my heart so for you I say to you now that I am sorry for what I have done."
  • Manafort also cited his 66-year-old wife, for whom he is the primary caregiver: "She needs me, and I need her. I ask that you think of this and our need for each other as you deliberate today. Please let my wife and I be together."
  • USA Today's take: "Manafort's abrupt transformation from a globe-trotting political operative with mansions and lavish clothing to a frail-looking, wheelchair-bound, gray-haired inmate who, in his own words, had been 'humiliated and ashamed,'" is now complete.
(More Paul Manafort stories.)

Get breaking news in your inbox.
What you need to know, as soon as we know it.
Sign up
Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X