Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was charged on Wednesday with 16 felonies by New York prosecutors after a federal judge sentenced him to an additional 43 months in prison as part of a case brought against him by special counsel Robert Mueller.
An indictment unsealed in Manhattan accuses the 69-year-old Manafort of conducting residential mortgage fraud that netted millions of dollars, along with conspiracy and falsifying business records.
“No one is beyond the law in New York,” Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance said in a statement. “Following an investigation commenced by our Office in March 2017, a Manhattan grand jury has charged Mr. Manafort with state criminal violations which strike at the heart of New York’s sovereign interests, including the integrity of our residential mortgage market.”
The state charges appear at least partly designed to guard against the possibility that he could be pardoned by President Donald Trump and freed early on his federal convictions. The presidential power does not extend to state charges.
Earlier Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson sentenced Manafort to 43 months in prison, bringing his total sentencing to 7 1/2 years. Last week, a judge in Virginia sentenced Manafort to 47 months in jail for tax and bank fraud.
Before sentencing Manafort in Washington, Jackson told him, “It is hard to overstate the number of lies and the amount of fraud and the extraordinary amount of money involved” in the federal conspiracy charges related to his foreign lobbying work and witness tampering.
Manafort asked for mercy, saying the criminal charges against him have “taken everything from me already.” He pleaded with the judge not to impose any additional time beyond the sentence he had received last week. “I am sorry for what I have done and all the activities that have gotten us here today,” Manafort said in a steady voice as he read from a written statement. “While I cannot undo the past, I will ensure that the future will be very different.”
The 69-year-old, who arrived in court in a wheelchair, said he was the primary caregiver of his wife and wanted the chance for them to resume their life together. “She needs me and I need her. I ask you to think of this and our need for each other as you deliberate,” Manafort said. “This case has taken everything from me already — my properties, my cash, my life insurance, my trust accounts for my children and my grandchildren, and more.”
Wednesday’s sentencing comes in a week of activity for the Mueller investigation. The special counsel’s prosecutors on Tuesday night updated a judge on the status of cooperation provided by one defendant, former national security adviser Michael Flynn, and are expected to do the same later in the week for another.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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