Reuters
- Paul Manafort, President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, was sentenced to 47 months in prison on Thursday.
- The sentence handed down by US District Judge T.S. Ellis III in Alexandria, Virginia, is well below prosecutors’ sentencing recommendation of 19 to 24 years in prison.
- Manafort was indicted on 18 counts by special counsel Robert Mueller’s office, and was convicted of eight counts of tax and bank fraud by a jury last year; a mistrial was declared for 10 of the other counts due to a deadlocked jury.
- The just shy of four-year sentence left some political pundits, former prosecutors, legal experts, and public defenders flummoxed — and they aired both their shock and their theories behind the sentencing on Twitter.
Paul Manafort, President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, was sentenced to 47 months in prison on Thursday.
The sentence handed down by US District Judge T.S. Ellis III in Alexandria, Virginia is well below the sentencing recommendation of 19 to 24 years in prison.
Manafort was indicted on 18 counts by special counsel Robert Mueller’s office, and was convicted of eight counts of tax and bank fraud by a jury last year; a mistrial was declared for 10 of the other counts due to a deadlocked jury.
The nearly four-year sentence left some political pundits, former prosecutors, legal experts, and public defenders flummoxed — and they aired both their shock and their theories behind the sentencing on Twitter.
This is just the first of two sentences Manafort will face, he struck a plea deal with Mueller’s office and pleaded guilty to two counts obstruction and conspiracy. US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson is overseeing that case in Washington, DC, and she has yet to hand down her sentence.
Here’s what experts are saying about the prison sentence Manafort was given on Thursday:
"Outrageously lenient."
REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
Laurence Tribe, a Carl M. Loeb University Professor at the Harvard Law School and constitutional law expert, tweeted shortly after the verdict, calling the sentence "outrageously lenient."
"Manafort’s 47-month sentence in ED Va is outrageously lenient," he tweeted. "Judge Ellis has inexcusably perverted justice and the guidelines. His pretrial comments were a dead giveaway. The DC sentence next week had better be consecutive."
"47 months is a joke."
REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein
Former federal and state prosecutor Elie Honig called the sentencing a "joke" and "unjust."
"A below-guidelines sentence would’ve been perfectly fair but 47 months is a joke," he tweeted.
"Steal millions from US Government, violate bail, get convicted by jury, fake cooperate, lie to prosecutors, refuse to accept responsibility – and get an enormous break. That’s an unjust sentence."
"Two different kinds of justice."
Mark Wilson/Getty Images
Walter Shaub, an attorney who focuses on government ethics, who formerly served as the director of the United States Office of Government Ethics, also responded to Manafort’s sentencing, seemingly referring to the fact that some get harsher sentences for lesser crimes.
"They sure have two different kinds of justice in this country," he said in a tweet.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
See Also:
- Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort sentenced to 47 months in prison in Virginia case
- Michael Cohen on Capitol Hill: Trump’s former lawyer turns over more documents to US lawmakers
- Attorney General William Barr will not recuse himself from the Russia probe, setting up a possible showdown with Democrats over Mueller’s report
SEE ALSO: Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort sentenced to 47 months in prison in Virginia case
Source: Business Insider – feedback@businessinsider.com (Sarah Gray)