The judge made a long summary outlining how similar crimes to Manafort's received similar sentences to the one he provided to Manafort -- including providing examples. He stated that the requested sentence was excessive and previous sentences provided in similar situations do not support the lengthy sentence requested for prosecutors.
I am not going to enter into the discussion on this three strike rule thing, because of the time of day/market. But, in passing I will say that in most states and at the fed level one or more of the strikes must involve a crime of violence. That is the general rule, but there are fifty states out there and the fed guidelines are guidelines so there can be some variation. In many states though it is an absolute requirement- ie. it absolutely must involve a crime of violence or threat to public and personal physical safety.
The recommended sentence was in line with national guidelines put in place by a body that looks at an aggregate of similar crimes nationwide and issues said guidelines to apply the law in a uniform way. So I ask again, guidelines be damned? Why shouldn't 3 strike judges dismiss guidelines since you seem to be ok with it in this case?
Because the judge said from the beginning that he saw that it was a witch hunt and so the judge used his discretion to punish the government/ not excessively reward- for politically motivated behavior.
Well --- first let me not that in many states the three strike guidelines set mandatory minimums -- which were lengthy. The judges had no discretion in providing sentences below the minimum. The recommended sentence was at the high end of national guidelines for Manafort. The judge used appropriate discretion to apply a sentence that was in-line with what other people got with similar charges and no previous criminal background.
The judge should have suspended the sentence and given him probation sending a clearer message to our criminally corrupt government that political hit jobs won't be rewarded in court.
was it within guidelines though, or guidelines be damned? Should we dismiss following the recommended guidelines and let judges issue sentences willy-nilly? What was Maddoff's previous criminal history I wonder?
So the guy who blatantly committed multiple counts of tax fraud and bank fraud gets less than 4 years, well below federal guidelines. I guess the perjury and witness tampering put Manafort in the judge's good graces.
The judges sentence was clearly within the guidelines. The prosecutor requested a sentence that was excessive. Even the commentators over at CNN are stating this - go listen to their coverage.