Mr. Manafort’s lawyers asked that Judge Jackson’s sentence be “significantly below” the 10-year maximum prison term she could impose. But whatever punishment she decides upon, they asked that Mr. Manafort be allowed to serve it concurrently with his sentence in the Virginia case. Under advisory sentencing guidelines, Mr. Manafort could be sentenced to more than 24 years in prison for the financial fraud scheme. The defense lawyers dismissed the prosecutors’ argument that Mr. Manafort was likely to commit new crimes unless he received a lengthy sentence. Mr. Manafort has been “vilified in a manner that this country has not experienced in decades,” they said.

Source: New York Times February 26, 2019 04:41 UTC