Judge Rules That Prosecutors Don't Have To Honor Manafort's Plea Deal

A federal judge has ruled that Paul Manafort made multiple false statements to investigators as well as in front of a grand jury, paving the way for prosecutors to throw out his plea deal and recommend a longer prison sentence. Judge Amy Berman Jackson found that Manafort lied in three instances during Robert Mueller's investigation into collusion between the Russian government and President Donald Trump's campaign.

Judge Jackson found that Manafort lied to the FBI, the Special Counsel’s Office, and a grand jury about payments made by an unidentified political action committee to a law firm, his communications with Konstantin Kilimnik, a Ukrainian-Russian associate, and another matter that was material to the investigation. There were two other instances where prosecutors alleged that Manafort had lied, but for those, Jackson disagreed that he had intentionally misled investigators.

In September 2018, just days before his federal trial was set to begin, Manafort pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and witness tampering and agreed to cooperate with investigators in exchange for a recommendation of a lighter prison sentence.

Photo: Getty Images


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