Manafort's Choices: Work With Mueller, Wish for Trump Pardon, or Die in Prison

[DonViejo]

It’s not over for the president’s sleazy ex-campaign boss. He’s facing life in prison before his next trial even begins. The only way out is to side with the prosecution or POTUS.

MIMI ROCAH
ELIE HONIG
08.22.18 5:15 AM ET

Paul Manafort, the former campaign chairman for President Donald Trump, was convicted of eight counts of tax fraud and bank fraud by a federal jury in Virginia earlier Tuesday. But it’s far from over for Manafort.

Unlike a typical defendant, Manafort still has several options available to him. His next move, and Trump’s response to it, could have explosive impact on the larger special counsel investigation and on the future of Trump’s presidency.

Next up for Manafort is sentencing. While all eight counts of conviction combined carry a maximum of 80 years in prison, he isn’t going to be locked up until 2098. Federal sentences are determined in part through a calculation based on the defendant’s prior criminal history (for Manafort, none) and the seriousness of the offense (for Manafort, very).

In determining the seriousness of the offense, Judge T.S. Ellis will consider the amount of the fraud, the sophistication of the scheme, and Manafort’s role as a leader. All things considered, Manafort likely faces a sentence of around eight to twelve years in prison. For a 69-year-old man, that could mean life behind bars. And Manafort isn’t close to done. Mueller could choose to re-try Manafort on the ten counts on which the Virginia jury hung. That seems unlikely; Manafort’s sentence is hardly affected at all by the remaining hung counts, and Mueller’s team got all it needed from the eight counts of conviction.

Beyond that, Manafort goes on trial again next month in Washington, D.C. on an impressively well-rounded array of white-collar federal crimes. The indictment charges that Manafort worked as an unregistered foreign lobbyist in the United States, laundered millions of dollars through foreign bank accounts, lied to the Department of Justice, and—after he was charged with all of this—tried to tamper with witnesses, which got him thrown in jail pending trial in Virginia. Even if Manafort is acquitted in Washington, D.C. on all counts, it would have zero effect on the sentence he will receive on his conviction in Virginia. And if he gets convicted again in the second trial, his sentence could increase.

more
https://www.thedailybeast.com/manaforts-choices-work-with-mueller-wish-for-trump-pardon-or-die-in-prison?ref=home

[htuttle]

1. You mean, "Work with Mueller and get polonium poisoning"

He's way too famous to go into witness protection, too.

on edit: I'm betting he'll pick jail, to keep his family safe from Putin.

[Raven]

5. I'm not sure that him opting for prison will necessarily

keep his family safe from the Russians. They probably know stuff and even if they don't, the Russians don't know what they do or don't know.

[dembotoz]

2. Die in prison would work for me

Hell I would like to see Christmas cards with his face behind bars...I would send them .. Trump's photo would be better, but manafort on this year would work

[DeminPennswoods]

3. Thought it was significant that when

Manafort's atty spoke after the verdict, the first things he did were to thank the court and the gov't for a fair trial. Then he said he and Manafort would review their options. There was no brash statement about how unfair everything was and they would mount an immediate appeal.

[Squinch]

4. I'm starting to understand the tip of the iceberg of how smart Mueller is.

I have faith in him.

[Jarqui]

6. You have to wonder what effect Cohen flipping will have on Manafort

As of yesterday, there is little doubt Trump's ship is sinking.

Trump now has to start thinking about cutting a deal for himself and his kids.

He might not be around to pardon Manafort or be able to make such a pardon stick because he'll be defending himself as a conspirator and a pardon like that could be overturned as obstruction of justice (as the articles suggest is possible).

Meanwhile, Manafort was defrauding banks because he had no money. They're going to nail him in civil court for restitution. He's facing another trial in DC. Likely another trial on conspiracy re the election. And potentially another trial on the 10 mistrial verdicts. He has to be getting low on money paying all these lawyers. And with tax evasion at the federal level, even if Trump pardons him, they can convict him at the state level for tax evasion where the pardon has no bearing.

I think this Cohen pleading pushes him towards his only option to save himself: cooperate with Mueller.

Don't know how long it will take for this to end but this is the beginning of the end.

[beachbum bob]

7. New York State will indict manafort...

[Wellstone ruled]

8. Manafort has a major problem,

and it is Guy's with names like Serge,Ivan,and Dimitri.