Paul Manafort sentencing set for February; deadlocked counts dismissed

Former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort will be sentenced Feb. 8 for financial fraud crimes, a federal judge in Alexandria, Virginia, said Friday.

Manafort was convicted of eight tax and bank fraud crimes by a Virginia jury in August. He later pleaded guilty before a different judge in D.C. to criminal counts of conspiracy and obstruction of justice in a related case.

As part of the guilty plea, prosecutors with special counsel Robert Mueller said they may drop the 10 charges Manafort still faces after the jury deadlocked. In exchange, Manafort will cooperate fully with Mueller’s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Mueller’s team said they wouldn’t decide to dismiss the remaining 10 charges until they determine the scope of Manafort’s cooperation. Judge T.S. Ellis III who oversaw Manafort’s Virginia trial, called the move “highly unusual” and demanded prosecutors make a decision.

“I am not willing to go endlessly,” he told Mueller’s team in court Friday. “I have not heard from the government an estimate on when cooperation will be completed. I suspect if they had a date, they would give it to me.”

Judge Ellis dismissed the remaining counts without prejudice, which means the government can refile the charges if they deem necessary.

“They may be reinstated, but that’s your problem, not the court’s,” he told prosecutors.

Manafort appeared in court in a wheelchair and remained seated when Judge T.S. Ellis III spoke to him. Defense attorney Kevin Downing told the court there are “significant issues with Manafort’s health right now that have to do with his confinement.”

Mr. Downing asked Judge Ellis to expedite the pre-sentencing report, which will determine Manafort’s punishment, so he can move out of an Alexandria jail.

After the trial, a person close to Manafort said the longtime political operative had a serious medication condition related to inflammation in his right foot that stemmed from his diet.