Paul Manafort's lawyers ask for leniency: This is not 'murder, drug cartels, organized crime'

Paul Manafort's legal team has made the argument for a sentence "significantly" less than the 10 years that could be handed down and argue that given the money and assets Manafort has turned over to the government, he should receive no jail time at all in his case before the U.S. District Court in Washington.

His attorneys argue in a memo submitted to the court that only a handful of Foreign Agents Registration Act violations have been prosecuted in the past, and that people convicted of running afoul of foreign bank account reporting laws often don't get harsh prison sentences.

"This case is not about murder, drug cartels, organized crime, the Madoff Ponzi scheme or the collapse of Enron," they write in the memo.

Related

Politics

PoliticsManafort 'repeatedly and brazenly violated the law,' according to Mueller sentencing memo

Instead, they said Manafort, 69, has been ruined by the scrutiny and scope of the investigation, which has resulted in no charges related to "Russian Collusion."

The memo from Manafort's team follows a sentencing document submitted by the office of special counsel Robert Mueller on Friday night. Prosecutors in that memo said Manafort "repeatedly and brazenly" broke the laws ranging from tax fraud and money laundering to the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

Lawyers for Manafort, a former chairman of President Donald Trump's campaign, also repeated their prior claims about a "pre-dawn" raid that woke up Manafort and his wife in the summer of 2017, when agents with guns drawn entered the Manafort home to search not for evidence of Russian collusion but for tax fraud. The special counsel's office has disputed this claim in court filings, saying investigators were operating on a standard post-6 a.m. search warrant.

Manafort's legal team also argue in the memo that his case already acts as a deterrent to any potential future violators.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSInflation and tariffs push U.S. holiday spending projections to a record $1.7 trillion

FOR SUBSCRIBERSWhat happened inside the room where officials tried to execute Christa Pike by lethal injection

FOR SUBSCRIBERSHow we reported the saga of the CIA officer and his gold-bar stash

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘We’re going to beat you to death with audits’: Brad Raffensperger gears up to oversee his final election in Georgia

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDiddy is punished following NBC News report on his VIP life in prison and contraband cellphone use

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘Too young to vote, old enough to be tear gassed’: French protesters’ anger swells

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDOJ gets aggressive in suing states that challenge Trump’s immigration policies

FOR SUBSCRIBERSJustice Department seeks criminal charge for former Trump aide Cassidy Hutchinson

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘I just want to hold him’: USS Lincoln sailor to meet his 10-month-old son as ship docks

FOR SUBSCRIBERSSenate candidates run on raising Social Security taxes for higher incomes to prevent benefit cuts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRussian operation that used ChatGPT tricked schools, a politician and media, OpenAI says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump administration’s deal with Nevada fuels data center fight in governor’s race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSLatino voters reject Trump’s immigration policies — and detail the personal impact

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAs Democrats eye big midterm gains, the Wisconsin governor’s race remains a nail-biter

FOR SUBSCRIBERSU.S. military prepares new Iran war options ahead of midterm elections

Slide 1 of 1

"As a result of this widely reported case, the public now understands what can happen when the full prosecutorial force of the United States government is brought down upon an individual, and would-be violators have been generally deterred from engaging in similar conduct," they wrote.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSInflation and tariffs push U.S. holiday spending projections to a record $1.7 trillion

FOR SUBSCRIBERSWhat happened inside the room where officials tried to execute Christa Pike by lethal injection

FOR SUBSCRIBERSHow we reported the saga of the CIA officer and his gold-bar stash

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘We’re going to beat you to death with audits’: Brad Raffensperger gears up to oversee his final election in Georgia

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDiddy is punished following NBC News report on his VIP life in prison and contraband cellphone use

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘Too young to vote, old enough to be tear gassed’: French protesters’ anger swells

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDOJ gets aggressive in suing states that challenge Trump’s immigration policies

FOR SUBSCRIBERSJustice Department seeks criminal charge for former Trump aide Cassidy Hutchinson

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘I just want to hold him’: USS Lincoln sailor to meet his 10-month-old son as ship docks

FOR SUBSCRIBERSSenate candidates run on raising Social Security taxes for higher incomes to prevent benefit cuts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRussian operation that used ChatGPT tricked schools, a politician and media, OpenAI says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump administration’s deal with Nevada fuels data center fight in governor’s race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSLatino voters reject Trump’s immigration policies — and detail the personal impact

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAs Democrats eye big midterm gains, the Wisconsin governor’s race remains a nail-biter

FOR SUBSCRIBERSU.S. military prepares new Iran war options ahead of midterm elections

Slide 1 of 1

Manafort’s lawyers also included statements from character witnesses, including his wife, Kathleen, and his daughter, who said her father was “worthy of forgiveness.”

Manafort is slated to be sentenced in federal court in Virginia on March 7. His sentencing in Washington has been set for March 13.