Paul Manafort sentenced to 47 months in prison for tax and bank fraud

New York: US President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort has been sentenced to nearly four years in prison by a US judge for financial crimes uncovered during Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Paul Manafort after being booked in July 2018. Credit: AP

The 47 month sentence imposed by US District Judge TS Ellis at a courthouse in Virginia was far less than the 19 to 24 years prosecutors had recommended.

Manafort, 69, was found guilty last August by a jury of five counts of tax fraud, two counts of bank fraud and one count of failing to disclose foreign bank accounts.

The crimes do not directly relate to the 2016 election.

Prosecutors accused Manafort of hiding from the US government millions of dollars he earned as a consultant for Ukraine's former pro-Russia government.

Mueller had written to the judge to say the sentence should reflect the seriousness of the crimes.

"Manafort acted for more than a decade as if he were above the law, and deprived the federal government and various financial institutions of millions of dollars,” Mueller wrote.

But Ellis said the sentence sought by prosecutors was excessive and would create "an unwarranted disparity" with other cases.

Then-Donald Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in July 2016.Credit: AP

The judge said Manafort was a "generous" person had "lived an otherwise blameless life", a claim that aroused eyebrows in Washington given his long record as a paid lobbyist for foreign dictators and rebel leaders.

Ellis also noted that Manafort "is not before the court for any allegations that he, or anyone at his direction, colluded with the Russian government to influence the 2016 election".

Manafort asked Ellis for mercy and thanked him for conducting a fair trial. He did not express remorse for his actions but talked about how the case has been difficult for him and his family.

"To say I have been humiliated and shamed,” he said, “would be a gross understatement.”

He described his life as "professionally and financially in shambles."

Next week, Manafort will be sentenced in the District of Columbia for two separate conspiracy charges, which each carry a maximum penalty of five years.

US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson could potentially extend Manafort's time in jail by stacking her sentence on top of that imposed in the Virginia case, rather than allowing them to run concurrently.

Manafort was brought into the courtroom in a wheelchair holding a cane, wearing a green prison jumpsuit emblazoned with the words "Alexandria inmate" on the back.

After pro-Kremlin Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych's ouster, prosecutors said, Manafort lied to banks to secure loans and maintain an opulent lifestyle with luxurious homes, designer suits and even a $US15,000 ostrich-skin jacket.

Manafort is the one of the 34 people and three companies charged by Mueller to have gone to trial.

Several others including former campaign aides Rick Gates and George Papadopoulos, former national security adviser Michael Flynn and former Trump personal lawyer Michael Cohen have pleaded guilty, while longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone has pleaded not guilty.

Trump, who has called Mueller's investigation a politically motivated "witch hunt," has not ruled out granting a presidential pardon to Manafort, saying in November that "I wouldn't take it off the table."

Manafort worked for Trump's campaign for five pivotal months in 2016 that included the Republican National Convention where Trump accepted the Republican presidential nomination, three of them as campaign chairman.

with Reuters