Trump's ex-campaign chief Paul Manafort jailed for 73 months
A federal judge in the US has sentenced President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort to 73 months in prison for two conspiracies revealed during Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s alleged role in the 2016 US presidential election.
US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson said on Wednesday 30 of the months would run concurrently with Manafort's sentence last week in a separate case. The disgraced political consultant and lobbyist apologized for his actions and asked for leniency during a sentencing hearing.
"The defendant is not public enemy number one," Jackson said in delivering the sentence.
"But he is not a victim either," the judge said, adding that the Republican lobbyist had shown little remorse and had lied repeatedly.
Manafort was sentenced for to 47 months on March 7 during a hearing in Alexandria, Virginia, a surprisingly lenient sentence for tax and bank fraud in a separate Mueller case.
Manafort has been jailed since June, so he will receive credit for the nine months he has already served.
He was brought into the courtroom last week in a wheelchair because of a condition called gout, and had no visible reaction as he heard the 47-month sentence.
He listened during the hearing as US District Judge T.S. Ellis extolled his “otherwise blameless” life in which he “earned the admiration of a number of people” and engaged in “a lot of good things.”
Manafort was convicted after prosecutors accused him of hiding from the US government millions of dollars he earned as a consultant for Ukraine’s former President Viktor Yanukovych.
After Yanukovych’s ouster, prosecutors said, Manafort lied to banks to secure loans and maintain an opulent lifestyle with luxurious homes, designer suits and even a $15,000 ostrich-skin jacket.
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