Mueller to file sentencing memo in Manafort conspiracy case

February 22, 2019 News On Demand
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FILE - In this May 23, 2018 file photo, Paul Manafort, President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman, leaves the Federal District Court after a hearing in Washington. A judge has set a March 8, 2019, sentencing date for Manafort on his Virginia conviction for hiding millions of dollars from the IRS that he earned advising Ukrainian politicians. The order issued Thursday, Feb. 21 by U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III means Manafort will face sentencing in Virginia before he does in the District of Columbia. His sentencing in the District has already been set for March 13. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Special counsel Robert Mueller is filing a sentencing memorandum in one of the two criminal cases against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort.

Prosecutors are scheduled to file their document Friday in federal court in Washington, where Manafort pleaded guilty in September to two counts of conspiracy arising from his political lobbying work in Ukraine. Each count carries a maximum of five years in prison.

Though Manafort cut a plea deal with Mueller, prosecutors aren’t expected to recommend leniency because they say he lied to investigators after agreeing to cooperate.

The punishment he faces in Washington is much lower than what he faces in a separate tax and bank fraud case in Virginia. Mueller’s team in that case endorsed a sentence of between 19 and 24 years in prison.