Welcome back to Trump Watch. Former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort was sentenced Thursday to a term of nearly four years in prison for financial fraud during a hearing in Alexandria, Virginia. We've got some perspectives from the courtroom. Thanks for reading, and feel free to reach out any time at [email protected].

U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III

Inside the hearing

The hours that led up to Paul Manafort receiving his sentence for financial crimes in Virginia were marked by uneasy tension as the onetime Trump campaign chairman, pushed into the courtroom in a wheelchair, cast himself as a chastened man.

Ultimately, at the conclusion of Thursday's hearing, Manafort was sentenced by U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III to roughly four years in prison, a punishment that fell well short of the federal sentencing guideline range of 19-24 years. The term will fall closer to three years, since Ellis allowed Manafort to receive credit for the nine months he's already served.

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Manafort, who strode into court during his trial wearing suits, appeared Thursday grayer, more frayed, and confined to a wheelchair. (Manafort first appeared in Ellis' courtroom in a wheelchair last year. His attorneys later said their client suffered from gout, anxiety and depression.)