Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Paul Manafort: What did Trump's former campaign chairman do and when is he being sentenced?

President's former head of campaign may spend rest of his life behind bars

Chris Riotta
New York
Thursday 07 March 2019 10:23 EST
Comments
Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort pleads guilty

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman will face justice on Monday over a slate of tax and bank fraud charges.

Paul Manafort could very well spend the rest of his life in prison after US District Judge TS Ellis III delivers his sentencing at 3.30pm EST.

Under federal sentencing guidelines, Manafort could receive a 20-year sentence Thursday, though most observers expect he will receive less than that.

A Virginia jury convicted Manafort on eight felonies related to tax and bank fraud charges for hiding foreign income from his work in Ukraine from the IRS and later inflating his income on bank loan applications.

Prosecutors have said the work in Ukraine was on behalf of politicians who were closely aligned with Russia, though Manafort has insisted his work helped those politicians distance themselves from Russia and align with the West.

After his conviction, Manafort pleaded guilty to separate charges in the District of Columbia related to illegal lobbying.

He faces up to five years in prison on each of two counts to which he pleaded guilty.

In the District case, prosecutors say Manafort has failed to live up to the terms of his plea bargain by providing false information to investigators in interviews.

In the Virginia case, neither prosecutors nor defence attorneys have recommended a specific term to the judge in their sentencing memoranda. Manafort’s lawyers have sought a sentence significantly below the guidelines.

“You write the pages to your own life story,” Judge Ellis routinely tells defendants before pronouncing sentence. He also tells those who appear before him that “life is a series of choices and living with the consequences of those choices.”

Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

The Associated Press contributed to this report

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in