Home U.S. Paul Manafort: Ex-Trump Chief Gets 43 More Months In Jail

Paul Manafort: Ex-Trump Chief Gets 43 More Months In Jail

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Paul Manafort: Ex-Trump Chief Gets 43 More Months In Jail

US President Donald Trump’s former campaign chief Paul Manafort has been jailed for 43 more months on charges stemming from the Russia investigation.

Paul Manafort

It comes a week after the 69-year-old was given a 47-month prison sentence for fraud in a separate case.

The latest sentencing arises from two conspiracy charges Manafort pleaded guilty to last year.

Speaking from a wheelchair, he told the federal court in Washington DC that he wanted to apologise for his actions.

In a separate development, Wednesday also saw Manafort charged in New York with residential mortgage fraud and other crimes.

President Trump has the power to pardon his former aide for the federal crimes – but not for the charges brought in New York.

“I do feel badly for Paul Manafort, that I can tell you,” Mr Trump told reporters after the sentencing on Wednesday.

Asked if he was planning to pardon Manafort, the president answered: “I have not even given it a thought, as of this moment. It’s not something that’s right now on my mind.”

Both cases for which Manafort has been convicted stem from an inquiry into alleged Russian election meddling in the 2016 US elections.

What happened in court?

On Wednesday, US District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson sentenced Manafort to a total of 73 months, of which 30 were to run concurrently with last week’s sentence.

Before sentencing, the judge said it was “hard to overstate” the number of lies and the amount of fraud involved.

“The defendant is not public enemy number one,” she said. “But he is not a victim either.”

In the courtroom, Manafort said: “I am sorry for what I have done and for all the activities that have gotten us here today.

He also agreed to co-operate with Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation in a deal for a possible lighter sentence.

However, just two months later that plea deal collapsed as investigators said Manafort had repeatedly lied to the government.

What happened in the other case?

Last week, a judge in Alexandria, Virginia, sentenced Manafort to nearly four years for hiding millions of dollars of income earned by his consulting work for pro-Russian politicians in Ukraine.

That sentence was far shorter than that recommended by Mr Mueller, who had sought a minimum of 19 years.

Manafort served for three months as Trump’s campaign chairman until August 2016, when he was forced to resign over his previous work in Ukraine.

He was the first former Trump aide to be arrested in the special counsel investigation, in October 2017.

Manafort’s legal team had previously said he suffered from debilitating foot pain resulting from gout as a result of his incarceration.