Manafort 'Repeatedly and Brazenly Violated the Law,' Mueller Tells DC Judge
Prosecutors said they support a guideline range between 17.5 years to 22 years in prison.
February 23, 2019 at 02:53 PM
4 minute read
Paul Manafort, the former campaign chairman for Donald Trump, should serve a lengthy prison term for “bold” criminal actions that were orchestrated over more than a decade, special counsel prosecutors told a Washington federal judge in a court filing unsealed Saturday.
Manafort is set to be sentenced March 13 in Washington on charges that include two counts of conspiracy. The first count includes money laundering and failing to disclose his foreign lobbying work, and the second is related to witness tampering. Prosecutors said they support a guideline range between 17.5 years to 22 years in prison. Manafort, prosecutors said, is not entitled to any reduction in his sentence. The government did not present a single mitigating factor.
“His crimes continued up through the time he was first indicted in October 2017 and remarkably went unabated even after indictment,” prosecutors wrote in Saturday's memo. “Manafort engaged in witness tampering while on bail and, even after he was caught for engaging in that scheme, Manafort committed the additional crimes of perjury and making false statements after he entered his guilty pleas herein. The sentence in this case must take into account the gravity of this conduct, and serve both to specifically deter Manafort and generally deter those who would commit a similar series of crimes.”
Manafort's defense lawyers are expected to file their sentencing memo on Monday.
Manafort was separately charged and convicted at trial in Virginia. In that case, the government has supported a sentence of 19.5 years to 24.5 years in prison. The government on Saturday did not take a position on whether the sentence Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia imposes on March 13 should run on top of, or concurrent with, the one that is imposed in Virginia on March 8.
Prosecutors said they will make a recommendation on whether the sentence should be consecutive or concurrent to charges he was convicted on in Virginia, once that sentence is imposed.
Manafort will also be sentenced on March 8 in Alexandria, Virginia, for financial fraud convictions. A federal jury there found Manafort guilty of eight counts of bank and tax fraud last year, following an August trial.
When Jackson does sentence Manafort, she will likely take into consideration one big factor: his violation of a plea agreement he struck with the special counsel's office in September to head off his second trial. Jackson concluded last week that Manafort violated the terms of the agreement by lying to federal authorities during the course of his cooperation.
Under the deal, prosecutors had agreed to recommend that Manafort serve his two sentences concurrently. But Jackson freed prosecutors from that obligation.
Manafort's attorneys will have to file their response to Jackson by Monday. But, at 69, the longtime lobbyist already faces the possibility he'll spend the rest of his lifetime in prison.
Manafort has been locked up in Virginia jail since last summer, when Jackson revoked his bond amid allegations that he attempted to tamper with potential witnesses.
Read Mueller's sentencing memo here:
Read more:
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllAfter Regime Change, Syria Remains Liable in US Federal Courts for Alleged Assad-era Terrorism Support
2 minute readSplit 4th Circuit Ruling Is a Win for Covington & Burling in US Army Base Attack Litigation
3 minute readA Conversation with NLJ Lifetime Achievement Award Winner Jeff Smith
11 minute readTrending Stories
- 1Decision of the Day: Firm, Founding Partner Disqualified from Probate Case Amid Investigation on Undue Influence Claim
- 2Federal Judge Grants FTC Motion Blocking Proposed Kroger-Albertsons Merger
- 3Florida Court Rules in Favor of Production Co. in Dispute Over Viral Documentary 'Died Suddenly'
- 4What We Learned From In-House Lawyers in 2024
- 5Cannabis 'Cannibalization' Among Concerns of NYS Pot Attorneys
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250