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Special counsel Robert Mueller in Friday night said federal guidelines suggest a sentence ex-Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort to between about 19 years to 24 years in prison in his Virginia case.
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Mueller, in a court filing, also said guidelines suggest a fine Manafort between $50,000 to $24 million, an order the longtime Republican operative pay restitution of more than $24 million, and forfeit more than $4 million.
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Manafort was convicted last year of multiple crimes connected to his work for pro-Russian politicians in Ukraine. That work predated his tenure with Donald Trump's presidential campaign in 2016.
Special counsel Robert Mueller said Friday that federal sentencing guidelines suggest that a judge in Virginia to send ex-Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort to prison for between about 19 years to 24 years for crimes that include tax fraud and bank fraud.
Mueller, in a court filing, also revealed that the guidelines suggest that Judge T.S. Ellis fine Manafort between $50,000 to $24 million, order the longtime Republican operative to pay restitution of more than $24 million, and make him forfeit more than $4 million.
The special counsel's filing says that Mueller agrees with how the guidelines for Manafort's sentence were calculated for a pre-sentence investigation report prepared by federal probation officials.
But Mueller added that "the government does not take a position as to the specific sentence to be imposed here" in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
However, the special counsel also said that "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. The sentence here should reflect the seriousness of these crimes, and serve to both deter Manafort and others from engaging in such conduct."
Federal sentencing guidelines are calculated by formulas that take into account the seriousness of a defendant's crimes, the amount of money involved in the crimes, their acceptance of responsibility, criminal history and other factors. The guidelines are not binding on a judge, but are often used as a reference point for determining a criminal sentence.
Mueller's filing came hours after he asked Ellis, to set a sentencing date for Manafort "as soon as practicable."
Manafort was convicted at trial last Aug. 21 in the Virginia court of eight felony counts , which included tax fraud, failure to file a report of a foreign bank and financial accounts, and bank fraud. A jury deadlocked on 10 other counts.