Manafort Gets 47 Months, But Second Sentencing Awaits
The term is more than 15 years short of the minimum recommended by the special counsel.
March 07, 2019 at 07:15 PM
3 minute read
The original version of this story was published on National Law Journal
A federal judge in Virginia sentenced former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort to 47 months in prison, a term falling more than 15 years short of the minimum term recommended by the special counsel's office.
Manafort, seated in a wheelchair and wearing a prison uniform with “Alexandria Inmate” emblazoned on the back, received the sentence just before 7 p.m. from Judge T.S. Ellis. His appearance in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia Thursday came as he approaches a separate sentencing in Washington on charges related to his past lobbying work for the pro-Russian government of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.
Manafort, speaking publicly for the first time since his indictment, didn't apologize or express remorse, and instead told Ellis he was humiliated and ashamed. He described the past two years as the most difficult he and his family had “ever experienced,” and thanked Ellis for his oversight of the August trial that resulted in his conviction on financial fraud charges.
“Again, I want to thank you for the fair trial,” Manafort said Thursday.
When it came time to impose a sentence, Ellis said he was struck by what he did not hear from Manafort: an expression of regret.
“I certainly recommend that you do it in the District of Columbia,” Ellis said, referring to Manafort's upcoming sentencing before U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson in Washington.
Manafort had lived an otherwise blameless life. Ellis said he believed the more than 19 years in prison recommended would be excessive and create a “unwarranted disparity” with past sentences on similar charges.
A jury in Alexandria, Virginia, found Manafort guilty in August on eight counts of bank and tax fraud. The verdict followed a weeks-long trial in which prosecutors painted a detailed picture of Manafort's luxe lifestyle, featuring his high-end homes and a $15,000 ostrich jacket.
In the years before he joined Trump's presidential campaign, Manafort cheated the government out of millions of dollars in taxes owed on his income from his Ukrainian lobbying work, prosecutors said. And when that income stream dried up, Manafort submitted false information to banks to secure loans to prop up his lavish lifestyle.
The jury deadlocked on ten other criminal counts, but Manafort would go on to admit guilt to those as part of his September plea agreement to the separate case in Washington.
In court papers filed in Virginia, Manafort's attorneys sought to persuade the judge that Manafort accepted responsibility for his actions, and has already suffered the consequences. In response to those claims, prosecutors portrayed Manafort as a man who viewed himself as above the law.
In Washington, Jackson is scheduled to sentence Manafort on March 13 on two counts: conspiring against the United States, and conspiring to obstruct justice by tampering with witnesses.
The government is expected to tell Jackson on Wednesday whether they think the sentences should be consecutive or concurrent.
Read more:
Manafort Already 'Punished Substantially,' Defense Lawyers Say
Manafort 'Repeatedly and Brazenly Violated the Law,' Mueller Tells DC Judge
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllLitigators of the Week: A Knockout Blow to Latest FCC Net Neutrality Rules After ‘Loper Bright’
An ‘Indiana Jones Moment’: Mayer Brown’s John Nadolenco and Kelly Kramer on the 10-Year Legal Saga of the Bahia Emerald
Litigators of the Week: A Win for Homeless Veterans On the VA's West LA Campus
'The Most Peculiar Federal Court in the Country' Comes to Berkeley Law
Trending Stories
- 1We the People?
- 2New York-Based Skadden Team Joins White & Case Group in Mexico City for Citigroup Demerger
- 3No Two Wildfires Alike: Lawyers Take Different Legal Strategies in California
- 4Poop-Themed Dog Toy OK as Parody, but Still Tarnished Jack Daniel’s Brand, Court Says
- 5Meet the New President of NY's Association of Trial Court Jurists
Who Got The Work
J. Brugh Lower of Gibbons has entered an appearance for industrial equipment supplier Devco Corporation in a pending trademark infringement lawsuit. The suit, accusing the defendant of selling knock-off Graco products, was filed Dec. 18 in New Jersey District Court by Rivkin Radler on behalf of Graco Inc. and Graco Minnesota. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi, is 3:24-cv-11294, Graco Inc. et al v. Devco Corporation.
Who Got The Work
Rebecca Maller-Stein and Kent A. Yalowitz of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer have entered their appearances for Hanaco Venture Capital and its executives, Lior Prosor and David Frankel, in a pending securities lawsuit. The action, filed on Dec. 24 in New York Southern District Court by Zell, Aron & Co. on behalf of Goldeneye Advisors, accuses the defendants of negligently and fraudulently managing the plaintiff's $1 million investment. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick, is 1:24-cv-09918, Goldeneye Advisors, LLC v. Hanaco Venture Capital, Ltd. et al.
Who Got The Work
Attorneys from A&O Shearman has stepped in as defense counsel for Toronto-Dominion Bank and other defendants in a pending securities class action. The suit, filed Dec. 11 in New York Southern District Court by Bleichmar Fonti & Auld, accuses the defendants of concealing the bank's 'pervasive' deficiencies in regards to its compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and the quality of its anti-money laundering controls. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, is 1:24-cv-09445, Gonzalez v. The Toronto-Dominion Bank et al.
Who Got The Work
Crown Castle International, a Pennsylvania company providing shared communications infrastructure, has turned to Luke D. Wolf of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani to fend off a pending breach-of-contract lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 25 in Michigan Eastern District Court by Hooper Hathaway PC on behalf of The Town Residences LLC, accuses Crown Castle of failing to transfer approximately $30,000 in utility payments from T-Mobile in breach of a roof-top lease and assignment agreement. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Susan K. Declercq, is 2:24-cv-13131, The Town Residences LLC v. T-Mobile US, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Wilfred P. Coronato and Daniel M. Schwartz of McCarter & English have stepped in as defense counsel to Electrolux Home Products Inc. in a pending product liability lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 26 in New York Eastern District Court by Poulos Lopiccolo PC and Nagel Rice LLP on behalf of David Stern, alleges that the defendant's refrigerators’ drawers and shelving repeatedly break and fall apart within months after purchase. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack, is 2:24-cv-08204, Stern v. Electrolux Home Products, Inc.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250