Trump’s Ex-Deputy Campaign Manager Sentenced to 45 Days in Jail

By Staff, Agencies

Rick Gates, President Donald Trump's former deputy campaign manager, was sentenced to 45 days in prison and three years of probation on Tuesday.

Gates, 47, pleaded guilty in February 2018 to lying to the FBI and conspiracy to commit tax fraud and agreed to cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller's probe of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

In a sentencing memo, government prosecutors had argued for a relatively light sentence for Gates because of his "extraordinary assistance" with the Mueller investigation.

He could have faced five to six years in prison.

Gates' testimony helped bring about the convictions of Paul Manafort, Trump's former campaign manager, and Roger Stone, a former Trump adviser, in separate trials.

US District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson sentenced Gates to 45 days in prison, three years of probation, 300 hours of community service and a $20,000 fine.

Gates will be allowed to serve his jail time on weekends.

Manafort was convicted in 2018 of filing false income tax returns, bank fraud and other charges related to his consulting work for politicians in Ukraine and is currently serving seven and a half years in prison.

ABC News reported on Tuesday that the 70-year-old Manafort was hospitalized for a "cardiac event" last week but is recovering and is expected to be returned soon to the Pennsylvania prison where he is serving his sentence.

Gates was Manafort's longtime business partner and he followed him to the Trump campaign when Manafort briefly served as campaign manager in 2016.