Longtime Trump ally Roger Stone was sentenced to 40 months in prison and pay a $20,000 fine on Thursday for witness tampering and lying to Congress. He will be on probation upon his release.
Breakdown of Roger Stone's sentence:
COUNT 1 – 40 MONTHS
COUNT 2 to 6 — 12 MONTHS
COUNTS 7 — 18 MONTHS*all to run concurrently*
— Megan Mineiro (@MMineiro_CNS) February 20, 2020
Despite a controversial move by AG William Barr to overrule federal prosecutors’ recommended sentence, Judge Amy Berman Jackson added enhanced ‘points’ to his sentencing guideline as the hearing went on, saying ‘Stone’s belligerence and lies are a threat to the very foundation of our democracy.’
“The truth still exists,” she added. “The truth still matters.”
Judge Jackson says on Roger Stone's obstruction of justice "this is intolerable to the administration of justice and the court should not sit ideally by, shrug its shoulders and say well that is just roger being roger."
— Megan Mineiro (@MMineiro_CNS) February 20, 2020
The execution of the sentence will be delayed until Jackson decides whether Stone’s request for a new trial after the jury forewoman in his case – a former Democratic political candidate, outed herself as a far-left Democrat who had posted inflammatory anti-Trump content on social media.
Stone was convicted in November on seven counts, including lying to Congress, tampering with a witness, and obstructing House Democrats’ investigation into Russian collusion, according to AP.
Thursday’s jail sentence comes on the heels of a mini-revolt inside the Justice Department after Attorney General William Barr overrode four career prosecutors, who recommended an absurd 7-9 years in prison for process crimes – a decision that President Trump called a “miscarriage of justice.”
“I haven’t given it any thought … but I think he’s been treated very unfairly,” said Trump this week, who called the original sentence a “miscarriage of justice.”
This is a horrible and very unfair situation. The real crimes were on the other side, as nothing happens to them. Cannot allow this miscarriage of justice! https://t.co/rHPfYX6Vbv
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 11, 2020
Following Barr’s decision to override the recommendation, the four prosecutors resigned in protest, sparking calls for his resignation.
Prosecutors had charged in the filing that Stone “decided to double- and triple-down on his criminal conduct by tampering with a witness for months in order to make sure his obstruction would be successful.”
“Stone’s actions were not a one-off mistake in judgment. Nor were his false statements made in the heat of the moment. They were nowhere close to that,” prosecutors wrote in the court papers.
But Justice Department officials said they were caught off guard by the recommendation, even though the acting U.S. Attorney in Washington, D.C., Timothy Shea, is a former top aide to Barr. The attorney general ordered a new memorandum with a less harsh punishment, though it left provided no specifics and left the details to the judge. –AP
Stone, 67, has consistently denied wrongdoing, and has claimed the case against him is politically motivated.
PARDON HIM @realDonaldTrump !! https://t.co/wgZhKgNcW6
— Comfortably Smug (@ComfortablySmug) February 20, 2020
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