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Paul Manafort sentenced to 3.5 more years in prison

Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort has been sentenced to a further three-and-a...
Stephen McNeice
Stephen McNeice

17.38 13 Mar 2019


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Paul Manafort sentenced to 3.5...

Paul Manafort sentenced to 3.5 more years in prison

Stephen McNeice
Stephen McNeice

17.38 13 Mar 2019


Share this article


Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort has been sentenced to a further three-and-a-half years in prison.

It comes on the same day as prosecutors in New York announced fresh charges against Mr Manafort in a separate case.

Last year, Mr Manafort agreed to plead guilty to two crimes - conspiracy against the United States and conspiracy to obstruct justice - and avoid a second trial.

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The crimes relate to his foreign consulting work on behalf of a pro-Russia Ukrainian political party.

He reached a plea deal with special counsel Robert Mueller, who has been leading the probe into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Mr Mueller later accused the veteran political lobbyist of breaching the plea agreement.

Mr Manafort's already been given nearly four years in jail for tax fraud in a separate case.

Before being given his sentence today, the 69-year-old apologised.

He urged the judge not to remove him from his wife for any longer, saying the case had 'taken everything' from him already.

District Judge Amy Berman Jackson said: "It's hard to overstate the number of lies and the amount of fraud and the extraordinary amount of money involved."

"There is no question that this defendant knew better and he knew what he was doing."

Mr Manafort was sentenced to 73 months, of which 30 will run concurrently with his previous sentence.

The sentence brings the political operative's total jail sentence to seven-and-a-half years.

New York charges

Separately today, prosecutors in New York announced they were charging Mr Manafort over alleged residential mortgage fraud scheme.

They claim he and others falsified business records to illegally obtain millions of dollars.

District Attorney Cyrus Vance said: "Following an investigation commenced by our Office in March 2017, a Manhattan grand jury has charged Mr Manafort with state criminal violations which strike at the heart of New York’s sovereign interests, including the integrity of our residential mortgage market.

"I thank our prosecutors for their meticulous investigation, which has yielded serious criminal charges for which the defendant has not been held accountable."

Main image: Paul Manafort. Picture by: Jose Luis Magana/AP/Press Association Images

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