Federal prosecutors said Monday that Michael Flynn should serve up to six months in prison for lying to the FBI, a stark reversal from late 2018, when the government said that the former national security adviser should serve no jail time because he provided “substantial assistance” in multiple investigations.
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by Chuck Ross A federal judge in Washington, D.C., sentenced Paul Manafort to 73 months in prison Wednesday, days after the former Trump campaign chairman received a 47-month sentence in a separate case in Virginia. U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson ruled that Manafort will serve some of his sentence concurrently with his sentence in Virginia. In all, Manafort will spend around seven-and-a-half years in jail for a variety of crimes related to consulting work he did in Ukraine prior to joining the Trump campaign. During Wednesday’s hearing, Jackson noted that prosecutors with the special counsel’s office did not present evidence of collusion between Manafort, the Trump campaign and Russians to influence the 2016 election. “The question of whether there was any collusion with Russia…was not presented in this case, period, therefore it was not resolved by this case,” said Jackson. Manafort, 69, apologized during brief remarks before Jackson handed down the sentence. “I am sorry for what I have done and for all the activities that have gotten us here today,” said Manafort, who has already spent nine months in jail as his cases have unfolded. With time off for good behavior, Manafort could end up spending…
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by Kevin Daley Allen Loughry, a former justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, was sentenced to a two-year prison term Wednesday, following his conviction for fraud and lying to federal investigators. U.S. District Judge John Copenhaver assessed penalties in excess of the federal sentencing guidelines, finding an enhancement appropriate because of the gravity of the offenses. The guidelines called for a 10 to 16 month sentence. The sentence … “His damage can’t be measured in dollars and cents but the damage to the Supreme Court and the state is perhaps immeasurable,” assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Wright said during Wednesday’s proceedings, according to local press. Loughry was suspended from the state Supreme Court in June 2018 after West Virginia’s Judicial Investigation Commission cited him for 32 alleged violations of the state judicial ethics code. During Loughry’s tenure, the justices undertook a lavish renovation of their chambers, spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars on opulent furnishings for their exclusive use. Among the most notorious purchases was a $32,000 suede sectional sofa for Loughry’s office. An ensuing criminal inquiry found that Loughry used state transportation resources for personal travel, fraudulently procured reimbursement for travel, removed a $50,000 antique…
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by Chuck Ross Michael Cohen, the former personal attorney for Donald Trump, was sentenced to three years in prison by a judge in New York on Wednesday. The sentence, handed down by U.S. District Court Judge William Pauley, is lower than prosecutors’ recommendation that the longtime Trump fixer receive slightly less than between 51 and 63 months in prison. Pauley cited a “smorgasbord” of Cohen crimes before announcing the jail term. Cohen, 52, pleaded guilty on Aug. 21 to tax evasion, bank fraud and making illegal campaign contributions over his payments to Stormy Daniels, the porn star who claims she had an affair with Trump in 2006. Cohen paid Daniels $130,000, he claims at the direction and in coordination with Trump. Legal analysts have debated for days whether Trump is in legal jeopardy, with some observers saying that he could be impeached or even indicted after leaving office. Cohen created shell companies both to avoid paying taxes on his taxi business as well as to make the payment to Daniels. Trump defended the payment on Tuesday, telling Reuters that he did not view it as a campaign contribution. “Michael Cohen is a lawyer. I assume he would know what he’s doing,” he said…
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