The first from Trump’s original administration was sentenced today to federal prison.
Former Trump aide Paul Manafort will serve four years in federal prison for five counts of tax fraud, one count of failure to file a report of foreign bank and financial accounts and two counts of bank fraud.
A federal jury handed the verdict down to Judge J.T. Ellis for Manafort to serve his 47 month sentence in the Eastern District of Virginia, which is far below what was originally recommended by federal prosecutors.
Federal guidelines called for between 19 to 25 years, but Judge Ellis called those guidelines “excessive” and “high,” and sentenced Manafort to a much lighter sentence.
Manafort spoke at his sentencing, saying the past two years have been the “most difficult,” for his family and himself. Manafort told the judge, “To say I feel humiliated and ashamed would be a gross understatement.” His family and friends, including his wife, Kathleen Manfort, were also in the packed courtroom, CNN reported.
Manafort is also facing a prison sentence in a separate case in federal court in Washington, D.C., on March 13.
Manafort pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States and witness tampering last September after the guilty verdict in the Eastern District case. Judge Amy Berman Jackson will decide during that sentencing hearing whether Manafort will serve his prison time concurrently with the sentence handed down by Ellis.
He faces a maximum of 10 years in prison in that case.
