Thread by @Monaheart1229

Given the broad a 'grave' seriousness of Manafort's criminal activity & risk of recidivism, I wonder whether or not Mueller would recommend that he get a probationary (no jail) sentence even if he DID cooperate. #SundayMorning
nytimes.com/2019/02/23/us/…

2-"Federal prosecutors on Saturday portrayed Paul Manafort, President Trump’s former campaign chairman, as a hardened, remorseless criminal who “repeatedly and brazenly” violated a host of laws over more than a decade and did not deserve any breaks when he is sentenced in coming

3-"weeks.The prosecutors’ sentencing memo, filed in one of the most high-profile cases mounted by the office of the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, and unsealed on Saturday, painted a damning portrait of Mr. Manafort, 69, a political consultant who led Mr. Trump’s

4-"campaign during a critical five-month period in 2016.The memo involved one of two federal cases against Mr. Manafort. Prosecutors did not recommend a sentence, instead citing sentencing guidelines of up to 22 years for a wide-ranging conspiracy involving obstruction of justice

5-"money laundering, hidden overseas bank accounts and false statements to the Justice Department. But the two charges Mr. Manafort pleaded guilty to in the case carry a maximum sentence of 10 years. The memo came as Mr. Mueller is believed to be wrapping up his investigation

6-"into Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election, whether any associates of Mr. Trump were complicit in Moscow’s operation and whether the president obstructed justice in fighting the inquiry. The prosecutors and the defense will both have their final say about

7-"Mr. Manafort next month when he is sentenced for a total of 10 felonies stemming from the two separate prosecutions, one in Washington, D.C., and the other in Northern Virginia. Given his age, Mr. Manafort faces the prospect of spending the rest of his life, or something close

8-"to it, in prison.The prosecutors were weighing in Saturday on the sentence that Mr. Manafort will receive from Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the United States District Court in Washington. In that case, Mr. Manafort pleaded guilty to two conspiracy charges in September and

9-"agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.Judge Jackson ruled this month that Mr. Manafort had breached his plea agreement by lying to prosecutors, including about whether he shared Trump campaign polling data in 2016 with a Russian associate who prosecutors claim has ties to a

10-"Russian intelligence service. The prosecutors said Mr. Manafort’s lies fit a long pattern. He deceived “tax preparers, bookkeepers, banks, the Treasury Department, the Department of Justice national security division, the F.B.I., the special counsel’s office, the grand jury,

11-"his own legal counsel, members of Congress and members of the executive branch of the United States government,” the filing said.They noted that he committed crimes “while under a spotlight” as Mr. Trump’s campaign chairman, after his indictment and after Judge Jackson had

12-"released him on bail. Mr. Manafort has been in jail in Northern Virginia since the judge revoked his bail in June, citing the new crimes. Over all, the prosecutors said, Mr. Manafort’s behavior “reflects a hardened adherence to committing crimes and lack of remorse.”

13-"Despite his age, they said he “presents a grave risk of recidivism.” They noted that under advisory sentencing guidelines, Mr. Manafort would face a sentence of 17 to 22 years. The prosecutors reached far back into Mr. Manafort’s career in their efforts to portray him as a

14-"calculating lawbreaker. They noted that the Justice Department first warned him in 1986 about flouting the lobbying law known as the Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA. At the time, Mr. Manafort was a director of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation under

15-"President Ronald Reagan, and he was faced with a choice: “either resign his political appointment” or “cease all his activities on behalf of foreign principals,” according to the filing.He chose to resign. But the prosecutors said that “in spite of these clear warnings and

16-"the personal ramifications to him for not adhering to the law, Manafort chose to violate the FARA statute and to get others to as well” in his Ukrainian lobbying. Mr. Mueller’s team also made no recommendation on whether Mr. Manafort’s sentence in the Washington case should

17-"run concurrently with his sentence in the Virginia case. After a lengthy trial in Alexandria, Va., in August, a jury convicted Mr. Manafort of eight felonies including tax fraud and bank fraud — crimes prosecutors said Mr. Manafort committed “for no other reason than greed.”

18-"Sentencing guidelines in that case would call for a prison term of 19 to 24 years. The order of his sentencing dates may work against Mr. Manafort. He is scheduled to be sentenced first for the financial crimes by Judge T. S. Ellis III of the United States District Court for

19-"the Eastern District of Virginia in Alexandria, and then by Judge Jackson in Washington. Some allies of Mr. Manafort had hoped that Judge Ellis would have the last word because

20-"he seemed more sympathetic to the defense than Judge Jackson, and he might order the sentences to run concurrently."
~Sharon LaFraniere, NYT, 2/24/19