Paul Manafort sentenced to 47 months in prison in Virginia trial, sentencing in Washington DC case next week

Paul Manafort speaking to the court today, courtroom sketch artist: Art Lien
A judge sentenced former Donald Trump presidential campaign manager Paul Manafort today to 47 months in jail, which adds up to almost four years of incarceration. Manafort faced the possibility of up to nearly 25 years, based on federal sentencing guidelines.
He will receive credit for 9 months of time already served.
Paul Manafort had previously been convicted by a jury on eight charges: 5 counts of tax fraud, 2 counts of bank fraud, and one count of failure to disclose a foreign bank account.

NOTE: In a separate trial, Manafort is scheduled to be sentenced for other crimes in DC next week.

Before issuing the sentence, Judge T.S. Ellis said the sentencing range for Paul Manafort of 19-24 years is “excessive,” noted he 'lived an otherwise blameless life,' was a good friend and generous person to others. “That doesn't erase his crimes however,” Judge Ellis said.
REUTERS
After Manafort’s lawyer called it “a very unusual case,” Ellis replied, “nobody denies that.”
Ellis then says he’s “rarely had a courtroom ever close to this full.”
“The real essence of his violation is that he stole from us, the people who pay their taxes,” Judge Ellis says of Manafort.
Manafort entered the court in a wheelchair, and used a cane in the courtroom. He spoke before the judge for about four minutes at the end of the trial, before the judge issued his sentence.
Prior to sentencing, the judge said Manafort would get no credit for accepting responsibility for his crimes.
On those 50 hours of testimony, Mueller prosecutor Greg Andres said, “Manafort did not provide valuable information to the special counsel that wasn’t already known.”
Manafort got away with lucrative crimes around the world for decades.
The mistake that did him in?
Teaming up with Trump.

President Donald J. Trump!Nothing more to say except now it is time "To Make America Great Again"!
— Paul Manafort (@PaulManafort) December 20, 2016

Background from the New York Times:
Mr. Manafort’s lawyers repeatedly implied that the special counsel’s office pursued their client with unusual vigor because of his importance to the Russia inquiry. They said his political consulting work for four American presidents, including Mr. Trump, spoke to his high ideals. And they argued that the special counsel’s office has vilified him for what are essentially garden-variety crimes that for other defendants merited only limited time behind bars.
But prosecutors said that Mr. Manafort had been under criminal investigation before Mr. Mueller was appointed in May 2017, that his fraud scheme lasted a full decade and that he committed new crimes by tampering with witnesses after he was indicted. Those new offenses led a federal judge to revoke his bail and jail him in June.
“The defendant blames everyone from the special counsel’s office to his Ukrainian clients for his own criminal choices,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memo.
Mr. Manafort was indicted on 18 counts in the Northern Virginia case, but the jury convicted him on only eight: five counts of tax fraud, two counts of bank fraud and one count of failure to disclose a foreign bank account. Because of one holdout juror, the panel deadlocked on the other charges. Mr. Manafort admitted that he was guilty of those as well, though, as part of his plea agreement.
Below, observations from Twitter.

He got 47 months.
By comparison, a woman that voted accidentally got 5 years.
— Michael Hartsfield (@bigblackuncut) March 8, 2019

Mueller’s team says Manafort never gave meaningful help. The judge noted he spent 50 hours with prosecutors.
"It wasn't information we didn't know," the prosecutor said, raising his voice. "The reason he met for 50 hours was because he lied."
—@kpolantz reports
— Josh Campbell (@joshscampbell) March 7, 2019

MANAFORT: "The person that the media has described me as is not someone I recognize." via @JuliaArciga pic.twitter.com/iQRUjtm6dF
— Justin Miller (@justinjm1) March 7, 2019

Manafort is now addressing the Court: he states that he is “humiliated and shunned”. He did not apologize and complained about his situation. He asked for compassion from the Court. Does not sound like he is expressing remorse for his conduct.
— Katie Phang (@KatiePhang) March 7, 2019

Judge Ellis calls #Manafort‘s guidelines range “quite high.“ The guidelines are based on data from other cases, and are high here only because the conduct was so egregious. Why are the guidelines considered too high only when the defendant is wealthy and powerful?
— Barb McQuade (@BarbMcQuade) March 7, 2019

Manafort spoke briefly about how prayer and faith have helped get him through this time.
"I ask you to be compassionate," said Manafort.
He spoke from a wheelchair
— Shimon Prokupecz (@ShimonPro) March 7, 2019

NEW: Paul Manafort's sentencing has been underway for a while now and prosecutors are telling the court that Manafort did not provide valuable information to the Special Counsel's Office, saying he told prosecutors 50 hours of things they already knew. https://t.co/qEzS1xSeoD
— Tom Winter (@Tom_Winter) March 7, 2019

Manafort’s judge took the opportunity of having a full courtroom and the media watching to describe other cases where he's given sentences he intended would deter others contemplating crimes. He added that "they hung pickpockets" in England centuries ago.
—@kpolantz reports
— Josh Campbell (@joshscampbell) March 7, 2019

The judge says Manafort gets no credit for accepting responsibility for his crimes. Court is now taking a brief recess before final arguments and the announcement of the sentence.
—@kpolantz reports
— Josh Campbell (@joshscampbell) March 7, 2019

Today, Paul Manafort reaches the end of the road. Sentencing, 3:30 https://t.co/HAo4rBmhAM
— Katelyn Polantz (@kpolantz) March 7, 2019

There can be no serious question that Manafort shouldn't receive credit for accepting responsibility, given that he went to trial and contested the factual allegations. https://t.co/WsWqghHja7
— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) March 7, 2019

Paul Manafort is getting sentenced--but tons of material related to the breach of his plea deal that the special counsel has said goes to the "heart" of the Mueller investigation remains sealed. @washingtonpost is asking a judge to make it public. https://t.co/JVGl6wvg4b
— Rosalind Helderman (@PostRoz) March 7, 2019

The Washington Post asks court to unseal records in Manafort case https://t.co/6RZkVK4wal
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) March 7, 2019

Manafort is still a rich man, prosecutor Uzo Asonye noted in a discussion with the judge about possible fines and restitution Manafort could pay. He said Manafort still has at least $4 million in assets and properties.
— Shimon Prokupecz (@ShimonPro) March 7, 2019

Manafort also never provided extensive financial information to the Virginia federal court so probation officers could calculate his full worth, Asonye said.
— Shimon Prokupecz (@ShimonPro) March 7, 2019

Mueller prosecutor Greg Andres: “Manafort did not provide valuable information to the special counsel that wasn’t already known.”
— Ken Dilanian (@KenDilanianNBC) March 7, 2019

Well, Trump should appreciate this.
Manafort may have been a rat, but he wasn’t a useful rat. https://t.co/5puQmriql6
— S.V. Dáte (@svdate) March 7, 2019

The judge in the Paul Manafort case said, besides committing multiple felonies, he "lived an otherwise blameless life"
Manafort ran the "torturers' lobby" -- representing countries that committed gross human rights violations and helping them secure U.S. aid pic.twitter.com/XrkdDaX7y5
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) March 7, 2019

Manafort pressured his wife into having sex with other men without protection so he could watch and one of his daughters was so appalled when she found out she changed her last name. https://t.co/iGRTpuzCSc …
— Ally Maynard (@missmayn) March 7, 2019

Manafort, his fortune depleted and his health deteriorating, appeared in court today in a wheelchair.
He has severe gout, high blood pressure, psoriasis, arthritis, severe anxiety, panic attacks and a constant feeling of claustrophobia, his lawyers say, per @davidvoreacos. https://t.co/mjNu4T7YGK
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) March 7, 2019

Judge Ellis: "Manafort led a blameless life before this." This is the man who whitewashed the blood spilled by Mobutu, Jonas Savimbi, and the Marcos family.
— Jeffrey St. Clair (@JSCCounterPunch) March 7, 2019

This. Ugh. https://t.co/0bcV8DmZKW
— Soledad O'Brien (@soledadobrien) March 8, 2019

Judge Ellis last year: "You don't really care about Mr. Manafort's bank fraud.... What you really care about is what information Mr. Manafort could give you that would reflect on Mr. Trump or lead to his prosecution or impeachment."
— Justin Miller (@justinjm1) March 8, 2019

Guys JUDGES MATTER and this is why it's a super bad slow burning awful thing that Trump is stacking the courts?
— Xeni Jardin (@xeni) March 8, 2019