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.
Thanks you!