Former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort was rolled into a Virginia federal court Friday in a wheelchair, wearing a green prison uniform instead of his signature tailored suit.
The judge scheduled Manafort to be sentenced Feb. 8 for eight counts of tax evasion and bank fraud and dismissed the remaining charges against him.
Manafort, appearing visibly grayer, was pushed into court in a wheelchair, missing his right shoe.
"There are significant issues with Mr. Manafort’s health concerning confinement," his lawyer, Kevin Downing, told the judge.
Downing requested that the court expedite Manafort’s sentencing so he could be moved to a facility better equipped to deal with his health issues.
A jury in Alexandria convicted Manafort on eight counts of tax evasion and bank fraud counts in August, but were unable to reach a verdict on 10 additional counts, leaving Mueller's prosecutors to decide whether to retry him. The new ruling no longer gives them that option.
In September, Manafort took a plea deal based on separate charges filed by the Mueller team in Washington, agreeing to cooperate with investigators. Court filings in that case indicated that the prosecutors would seek to delay Manafort's sentence in the Virginia case until they were satisfied that he had answered all their questions as part of his cooperation agreement.
Both cases against Manafort involved his political consulting for the Russian-backed government of Ukraine and its former president, Viktor Yanukovych, well before Manafort served briefly as Trump's campaign chairman. Manafort was found guilty of intentionally dodging taxes on the millions he was paid for the work, by stashing it in overseas banks and using it to indulge his expensive tastes.
The Virginia federal judge, T.S. Ellis, denied an earlier request by Manafort to wear a suit to Friday's court hearing.
"Defendants who are in custody post-conviction are, as a matter of course, not entitled to appear for sentencing or any other hearing in street clothing," he said.
The judge said Manafort should be treated no differently.
