Roger Stone spared prison for his position as judge

Trump's long-time confidant, Roger Stone, was spared from prison after publishing a photo of the cross on a firearm on a judge.

But Judge Amy Berman Jackson slapped Mr. Stone with a gag order that prevents him from publicly commenting on his case.

Mr. Stone had posted on Instagram an image of a firearm covering the judge, calling the proceedings a "show trial".

The former campaign advisor to Mr Trump had been arrested in January as part of Robert Mueller's investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US elections.

Mr. Stone told the court that he thought that the line of sight on Jackson's photo that he had displayed on Monday actually represented a Celtic cross.

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"I'm banging on my own stupidity, but neither is my wife kicking me," said the self-proclaimed trickster.

But Judge Jackson said: "There is nothing ambiguous in the reticles."

Mr Stone – who began his career working on President Richard Nixon's 1972 election campaign – told the judge. "I can only say that I am sorry.

"It was a momentary lapse in judgment, maybe I'm talking too much."

But the judge said that she thought the excuses came only from her lawyers and "sounded rather hollow".

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Jackson JA also stated that the defendant "could not even keep his story directly on the bar".

She told Mr. Stone: "Today, I gave you a second chance, it is not baseball, you do not have a third chance."

Last week, Judge Jackson imposed a partial gag order on Mr. Stone, barring him from discussing court proceedings.

Thursday's gag order bars him from conducting radio, television or paper interviews about the case or its participants.

But Judge Jackson did not cancel Mr. Stone's $ 250,000 (£ 191,000) bail for Instagram cascading.

His exit from the court on Thursday was much more modest than a previous one, when he posed for photos saluting the Nixon double win.

This time, Mr. Stone did not comment on the pending journalists.

He is charged with seven counts, including lying to Congress about his communications with Wikileaks and the falsification of witnesses.