The federal judge overseeing Paul Manafort's sentencing handed down a sentence of just 47 months after the former Trump campaign chair pleaded for leniency from his wheelchair but did not express remorse. The four-year sentence is well below what prosecutors were seeking – and years below what top prosecutors and litigators had been predicting.
Judge T.S. Ellis, who handed down the sentence, said the former Donald Trump campaign chairman should not get credit for cooperating with authorities – but also said the former lobbyist and power-broker had lived an 'otherwise blameless life.'Prosecutors were seeking a sentence of up to 24 years, and under his current sentence Manafort would have to serve less than four. After the judge left the room once his sentence was pronounced, Manafort – who had pleaded for 'compassion' from his wheelchair – stood up and looked toward his wife, Kathleen. Manafort has already served several months behind bars during trial – time for which he may well receive credit.
However he faces further sentencing in federal court next week in Washington, D.C. before Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who must decide whether his sentences would be served concurrently.
Judge Ellis lauded aspects of Manafort's character even after a jury convicted him of felony corruption crimes and prosecutors sought to put him away for what could be the rest of his life. He called that sentence, built from sentencing guidelines, 'excessive.' Judge Ellis said Manafort was a good and generous friend, even though he committed crimes that the judge did not excuse. Manafort 'lived an otherwise blameless life,' Judge Ellis said, CNN reported.
It was a generous portrait of a man who rose to the top of Washington's power corridors by representing the likes of Mobuto Sese Seko in Zaire – and went on to stash millions off shore to avoid up to $6 million in taxes, spending lavishly on himself in the form of custom suits and an ostrich jacket. His own daughter in a hacked text to her sister referred to Manafort's earnings overseas as 'blood money.'
The judge spoke after the disgraced former power player and top Trump advisor pleaded for leniency – stressing how far he has fallen and the toll his legal saga and conviction has taken on his personal life – but notably did not apologize to the court.
'Humiliated and shunned would be a gross understatement,' Manafort told the court, as his sentencing hearing ran for hours.
Manafort was given leave to remain in his seat because of his supposed poor health but Judge Ellis interrupted him immediately because the court couldn't out make what he was saying.'The last two years of my life have been the most difficult that my family and I has ever experienced,' Manafort repeated in a low voice, betraying barely a flicker of emotion and staring down at his notes.
'The person that the media has described me as is not someone I recognize. To say I've been humiliated and shames is a gross understatement.'
Manafort told the court he hoped in time to 'show the world who I know I really am.'
He also complained that his mental health had deteriorated after being held in solitary at the Alexandria Detention Center ever since his bail was cancelled for alleged witness tampering.
The closest he came to taking responsibility for the eight tax and bank fraud charges he was convicted off last August was when the father-of-two said: 'I know it is my conduct that has brought me here.'
But he went on to complain: 'I can tell you I feel the punishment from these procedures already. My life professionally and financially is a shambles.
'Being in solitary confinement I've had much time to reflect on my life and choices.'
Manafort ended by thanking the court for a fair trial. Addressing the judge directly, he added: 'I am ready for your decision and I ask for your compassion.'
In his own sentencing remarks, Ellis admonished Manafort for failing to say sorry to the US taxpayers and the banks he defrauded.
'I was surprised I did not hear you express regret for engaging in wrongful conduct,' he said. 'In other words you did not say that I really, really regret not doing what the law requires.’
Judge Ellis ordered that restitution should be no less $6 million and no more than $25 million. He also hit Manafort with a $50,000 fine.
Manafort remained seated until the very last moment when he slowly rose to his feet as Judge Ellis left the courthouse, using a wooden cane to balance himself.
He turned and flashed a brief smile at his 66-year-old wife Kathleen, who had sat silently a few feet behind him in the public gallery as she had throughout his three week trial late last summer.
With that Manafort sank back in his wheelchair and a court guard quickly wheeled him out of the room.
His lawyers have claimed in filings that Manafort suffered from gout and depression. He appeared at a previous court hearing in a wheelchair because of an undisclosed ailment causing his leg to swell.
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