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Paul Manafort, former president of President Trump's campaign, leaves the Federal District Court in Washington in May. (Jose Luis Magana / AP)
Dan Morse
Reporter covering courts and crime in Montgomery County, Maryland.
Rachel Weiner
A local reporter covers a federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, and a local court in Arlington and Alexandria.
Paul Manafort, former president of President Trump's campaign, is due to be sentenced on 8 February in federal court in Alexandria for eight banking and tax fraud offenses.
Judge T.S. Ellis III set the date of sentencing at a hearing held on Friday afternoon. The judge also dismissed 10 charges that resulted in a jury impasse at the Manafort summer trial.
Legal experts have said that Manafort faces about seven to ten years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines. He is also convicted in a related case in the district, also brought by special advocate Robert S. Mueller III.
Manafort, 69, appeared in wheelchair court on Friday and did not get up when Ellis spoke to him. Defense counsel Kevin Downing told the court that there were "significant issues with Mr. Manafort's health at this time related to his imprisonment".
These conditions are essential to Manafort's security, Downing said, but he asked Ellis to expedite his investigation so that Manafort could leave a local prison as soon as possible and presumably a federal prison. Downing did not explain in detail the health problems of Manafort.
"I am not the judge who ordered this detention," said Ellis, but added that he would keep these concerns in mind.
Paul Manafort's lawyers in front of the federal courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia, where he was sentenced in August. (Ricky Carioti / The Washington Post)
As part of this agreement, the special advocate did not have to decide to sue Manafort for the 10 charges left in Virginia until he was finished to cooperate. But Ellis called the deal "very unusual" and asked the special advocate to make a decision now.
Counsel for the Special Prosecutor agreed, stating that they would accept the rejection of the charges and prepare for sentencing as long as charges can be resubmitted in the future. In court on Friday, Ellis said he was not sure he could legally lay these charges.
Manafort's beliefs in Virginia stem from his work for a Ukrainian political party favorable to Russia. The jury in Virginia found hidden the money he had earned to avoid paying taxes, and then he lied to get loans when the political party had collapsed and his funds had been exhausted.
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