Trump's former campaign chairman was just sentenced to 47 months in prison.
Paul Manafort is about to spend a long time in jail.
Trump's former campaign chairman, who turns 70 on April 1, was sentenced to 47 months in prison on Thursday by a federal judge in Virginia.
This sentencing follows Manafort's conviction last summer of eight counts of tax fraud, bank fraud and failing to file a foreign bank account. He was convicted in federal court in Virginia.
He has yet to be sentenced for the other felonies he pleaded guilty to last September in federal court in Washington, D.C., including conspiracy against the United States and conspiracy to obstruct justice.
During his sentencing hearing, Manafort expressed no remorse for his crimes, and instead seemed to whine about the difficult time he's had in prison — where he has been held after committing more crimes after he was indicted.
Manafort had asked for leniency in a sentencing memo he filed with the court, claiming he did not pose a risk of recidivism — despite having committed more crimes while under federal indictment.
Special counsel Robert Mueller was quick to point this out in a sentencing memo his team filed with the federal judge in Virginia.
"Nowhere does the defendant address the fact that after he was indicted in two districts for crimes spanning a decade, including crimes through 2017, he committed the additional crimes in 2018 of tampering with witnesses while on bail from both courts," according to Mueller's memo.
There's still a question of whether Manafort could receive a pardon from Trump.
However, prosecutors in New York state have built another criminal case against Manafort that they'd file if Trump chooses to pardon him.
And, if that case is successful, it would make Manafort pardon-proof. That's because presidents can only pardon people for federal crimes, not state ones.
So, Manafort is pretty much screwed. His life of crime finally caught up to him.
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.
