[Krosan]

I trust that you know the law, but have you clicked the link and read the plea he signed? It is 17 pages. I am not a lawyer, but I believe that what he signed is something ~18 years.

[gopno1]

Give me a few minutes. Driving home. I’ll read the entire thing when I get home and let you know. I do these all the time. Off the cuff, I can’t imagine Manafort’s attorneys would cut ANY deal exposing him to that much time. Always remember, the statute controls, not the guidelines. You can have a HUGE guidelines range, but if the statute only allows for a max of like 5 years then that’s all the judge is allowed to sentence to by law.

[gopno1]

Ok. I looked at it. Read the part right on the first page where it says "each count of Conspiracy in violation of 18 U.S.C. 371 carries a maximum term of five years imprisonment". That is all that matters. You can have a Guidelines range through the roof (which many of my clients do) and it not really matter.

Happens all the time in drug conspiracy cases where you get these monetary amounts and drug quantities that jack the Guidelines range sky high--but you negotiate a deal to plea a "conspiracy to distribute mis-branded products" under §371 and are capped at five years.

The Guidelines are only advisory, not mandatory. I have to explain to my clients prior to sentencing all of the time not to freak out when the judge says your Guidelines are 188-235 months because he can't give you more than 60 months whether he wants to or not. That's what is happening here.

Based on my reading of the agreement, Manafort can't get more than 60 months on each count, and he'll get credit for any time already served. Hopefully this helps explain it. I wasn't trying to be rude--I would never expect a non-defense attorney to understand a federal plea agreement. That language can be really confusing to someone just reading it at its word. Just remember--the statute controls, and if it was just a plea to §371, then 5 years is the most he can get.

Now, in theory, since it was two counts, the judge could give him consecutive five year sentences for a total of 10, so his absolute maximum exposure is 10 years on both. However, that is rare, and he'll likely get concurrent terms on both, and probably not a lot of time anyway. Just my guess.

In closing, I totally agree that this whole thing is a political witch hunt and Mueller is a complete farce.