Late in February, former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort pleaded not guilty to the second round of indictments handed down by special counsel Robert Mueller. According to the federal judge who was assigned the new indictments, Manafort could very well spend “the rest of his life in prison.”
U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III, a Reagan appointee, said the severity of the new charges against Manafort, which include bank fraud and tax evasion, make him a substantial flight risk. Via Politico:
“The defendant is a person of great wealth who has the financial means and international connections to flee and remain at large, as well as every incentive to do so,” Ellis wrote in an order setting the terms of what the judge called “home incarceration” for Manafort, 68, who lives in Alexandria but also has homes in Florida and on Long Island.
“Given the nature of the charges against the defendant and the apparent weight of the evidence against him, defendant faces the very real possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison,” wrote Ellis.
For example, each one of the nine bank fraud charges Manafort is facing carries a maximum sentence of 30 years.
The judge’s order puts Manafort on “24-hour-a-day lockdown” at his Alexandria home with the exception of medical appointments or emergencies, court appearances, and visits with his attorneys. Manafort will also be on the hook for $10 million if he fails to appear in court. Since the conditions of his pre-trial release are now the purview of two different judges, Manafort is wearing two GPS devices that monitor his movements. He’s going nowhere.
(Via Politico)