Crime

D.C. Judge Sentences Paul Manafort To 43 Months In Prison

Wednesday's sentencing hearing was for the two conspiracy charges Manafort pleaded guilty to last September.

D.C. Judge Sentences Paul Manafort To 43 Months In Prison
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A federal judge in Washington, D.C., sentenced Paul Manafort to 43 months in prison for two conspiracy counts Wednesday.

Those charges are linked to money laundering, his foreign lobbying for Ukraine, and witness tampering.

Although Manafort faced a maximum sentence of 10 years in this case, special counsel Robert Mueller's team didn't ask Judge Amy Berman Jackson for a specific sentence length.

But Manafort's lawyers said their client should be granted leniency, downplaying the seriousness of his actions as "garden-variety crimes." They also claimed Mueller only prosecuted Manafort because he was "unable to establish that Mr. Manafort engaged in any Russia collusion."

Earlier this month, a different judge in Virginia sentenced the president's former campaign chairman to 47 months for bank and tax fraud convictions. 

That judge left it up to Jackson to decide if Manafort will serve his two sentences concurrently or consecutively. She decided Wednesday that he will serve the sentences consecutively. So that means Manafort is facing 7 and a half years in jail.

Additional reporting from Newsy affiliate CNN.