Manafort Weighing Plea Deal to Avoid New Criminal Trial, Source Says

[borndeadman]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-09-07/manafort-is-said-to-weigh-plea-deal-to-avoid-new-criminal-trial

Paul Manafort’s lawyers have talked to U.S. prosecutors about a
possible guilty plea to avert a second criminal trial set to begin in
Washington this month, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Manafort, President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, was convicted of
bank and tax fraud last month in a Virginia federal court. He’s accused
in Washington of financial crimes including conspiring to launder money,
as well as acting as an unregistered foreign agent of Ukraine and
obstructing justice.

The negotiations over a potential plea deal have centered on
which charges Manafort might admit and the length of the sentence to be
recommended by prosecutors working for Special Counsel Robert Mueller,
the person familiar with the matter said. Manafort, 69, already faces as
long as 10 years in prison under advisory sentencing guidelines in the
Virginia case.

By pleading guilty, Manafort could avoid the risk of a longer
prison term if he’s convicted at a second trial, as well as the threat
of forfeiting several properties and financial accounts. He could also
save the cost of paying lawyers to defend him at trial. Such
white-collar criminal cases can cost defendants millions of dollars.

Alternative sources:
The Hill
Talkingpointsmemo

https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1032256443985084417

https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/001/256/183/9d5.png

[🅱️🅰️LLS. ➿]

Hah that'll be great. But isn't he facing 80 years after the previous trial?