Judge Amy Berman Jackson sentenced Roger Stone to 40 months in prison, $20,000 fine, and two years of supervised release.
A jury convicted him “on seven charges of obstruction, lying to Congress and witness tampering” last year.
The Department of Justice recommended 7-9 years, but Attorney General Bill Barr withdrew that request. That caused four prosecutors to withdraw from the case:
A prosecutor representing the government apologized in court on Thursday “for the confusion” caused by the change of the sentencing recommendation, saying there had been a “miscommunication” between the career prosecutors and the leadership of the Justice Department over the sentencing recommendation. Jackson replied that the original sentencing recommendation was well within the guidelines.Barr’s move to intervene in Stone’s sentencing led to all four members of the prosecution team quitting the case. Jonathan Kravis resigned as an assistant U.S. attorney in Washington and Aaron Zelinsky filed a notice that he would leave his post as a special prosecutor in Washington but would remain as an assistant U.S. attorney in Baltimore. Prosecutors Adam Jed and Michael Marando also withdrew from the case.The mass withdrawal caused Democrats to accuse Trump of interfering in the process, and the intervention at the DOJ level sparked an emergency meeting for the Federal Judges Association, an independent national association of federal judges, to tackle mounting concerns about Trump and Barr’s intervention in cases involving Stone and other Trump associates.
However, Jackson also found 7-9 years too hard, but would not consider probation.
Jackson also made it known that outsiders did not influence her decision.
[Featured image via YouTube]
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