“Mr Manafort, you stand accused of very serious crimes,” said Ellis, noting that these included concealing $6m from the Internal Revenue Service. Ellis described the guidelines as “excessive” and “out of whack”, saying Manafort had no prior criminal history and had lived “an otherwise blameless life”. The judge acknowledged: “I don’t expect the sentence I’m about to announce to meet with everyone’s approval.” He told Manafort: “Life is making choices, Mr Manafort, and living with the choices you make. But he said Manafort would receive credit for the nine months he has already spent incarcerated. Manafort wore a green prison jumpsuit with “ALEXANDRIA INMATE” printed on the back, though some of the letters were fading.

Source: The Guardian March 07, 2019 16:31 UTC