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WASHINGTON – The lawyers of Paul Manafort, the former president of President Trump's campaign, objected on Monday to the government's portrayal that their client was a hardened criminal, implying that he was in danger of dying in prison alone. because he had been unfairly caught in the scandal. Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential race.
In a sentencing memorandum to the federal judge who will decide his sentence next month for two crimes for which Mr. Manafort pleaded guilty last year, his legal team said his crimes did not warrant a prison sentence. substantial prison, especially considering his age. Mr. Manafort will be 70 in early April.
Challenging Mr. Manafort's overwhelming qualification by prosecutors in court last week, his attorneys insisted that Mr. Manafort was not only deeply remedied, but "suffered an almost unprecedented public shame" for what he said. 39, they called various offenses. The memos are an overview of the pleadings that both parties will bring before Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, who will sentence Mr. Manafort on both counts of conspiring to March 13th.
Judge Jackson's sentence will be handed down five days after the conviction of Mr. Manafort for eight other crimes. he was convicted last year in a financial fraud case involving Judge T.S. Ellis III of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. A key question for both parties is whether Mr. Manafort will be allowed to serve the prison sentences simultaneously, or whether they will be superimposed.
Mr. Manafort's lawyers have asked that Jackson's sentence be "well below" the maximum 10-year prison term she could impose. But no matter what sentence she decides, they have asked that Mr. Manafort be allowed to serve her sentence at the same time as her sentence in the Virginia case. In accordance with the sentencing guidelines, Mr. Manafort could be sentenced to more than 24 years in prison for a financial fraud scheme.
The defense team claimed that if the special council, Robert S. Mueller III, had never been appointed to investigate Russia's interference in the elections, "Mr. Manafort may never have been charged in the District of Columbia. "
Even though Mr. Manafort acknowledged his guilt in the conspiracy crimes, Mr. Mueller's team had pursued him with unusual vigor because he had directed Mr. Trump's campaign during the war. a critical period in 2016. He is one of the few defendants, noted, having already been charged with a crime for not being registered as a foreign lobbyist with the Ministry of Justice. Justice.
In their sentencing memo, unsealed on Saturday, Mr. Mueller's attorneys did not ask for any specific punishment. But they said that Mr. Manafort had "violently and repeatedly" violated a host of laws for more than ten years, which he acknowledged had spearheaded a conspiracy encompassing serious crimes, including money laundering. money and obstruction to justice, and that he should be sentenced to a significant prison sentence.
Defense lawyers rejected the prosecutors' argument that Mr. Manafort was at risk of committing further crimes if he was not sentenced to a lengthy sentence. "The special advocate's attempt to portray him as a perpetual and irremediable perpetrator goes beyond the light and exaggerates the facts," they said. Mr. Manafort was "vilified in a way that this country has not known for decades," they said.
They also suggested that Mr. Manafort not be punished more severely than Michael D. Cohen, former president's lawyer and long-time repairer. Mr. Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to lying to Congress, five counts of tax evasion, one count of misrepresentation to a bank and two offenses of campaign financing.
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