Special Counsel Robert Mueller on Friday recommended Paul Manafort spend between 19 and 24 years in prison for his eight conviction of bank fraud, tax fraud and failure to disclose a foreign bank account, The Washington Examiner reported.
Manafort, 69, is expected to spend the rest of his life behind bars with the sentence recommendation Mueller's office has given federal Judge T.S. Ellis.
"In the end, Manafort acted for more than a decade as if he were above the law, and deprived the federal government and various financial institutions of millions of dollars," prosecutors wrote. "The sentence here should reflect the seriousness of these crimes, and serve to both deter Manafort and others from engaging in such conduct."
Mueller's office recognized Manafort's age but said that had no bearing on their decision, CNN reported.
"Manafort's age does not eliminate the risk of recidivism he poses -- particularly given that his pattern of criminal activity has occurred over more than a decade and that the most recent crimes he pled guilty to occurred from February to April 2018, when he conspired to tamper with witnesses at a time when he was under indictment in two separate districts," prosecutors said.
On Wednesday, a federal court judge threw out Manafort's plea agreement. When Manafort entered the agreement, he said he would "cooperate fully, truthfully, completely and forthrightly with the government," but he broke that agreement when he lied to special counselor Robert Mueller.
Because the plea agreement was broken, the feds are not required to offer a reduced sentence recommendation.
As of now, a sentencing date has not been scheduled.
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