Trump’s former campaign boss jailed for tax fraud

Paul Manafort, the former chairman of Donald Trump’s campaign, has been jailed for nearly four years for bank and tax fraud uncovered during the special counsel investigation into Russian election interference, says a report in The Guardian. The sentence by US District Judge TS Ellis, of the eastern district of Virginia, will be partially offset by nine months already served. ‘Mr Manafort, you stand accused of very serious crimes,’ said Ellis, noting that these included concealing $6m from the Internal Revenue Service. ‘In essence, that’s a theft of money from everyone who pays their taxes.’ The sentence was far shy of federal sentencing guidelines, which call for 19 and a half to 24 years in prison for these types of offences, notes the report. Ellis described the guidelines as ‘excessive’ and ‘out of whack’, saying Manafort had no prior criminal history and had lived ‘an otherwise blameless life’. The judge acknowledged: ‘I don’t expect the sentence I’m about to announce to meet with everyone’s approval.’