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August 21, 2018
Michael Cohen, Prez Trump's fixer, cuts a plea deal to fix his federal sentence between 46 to 63 months in federal prison
As reported here by USA Today, "Donald Trump's former personal lawyer and 'fixer' Michael Cohen, has pleaded guilty to charges including campaign finance fraud stemming from hush money payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels and ex-Playboy model Karen McDougal." Here is more (with a little sentencing emphasis):
The 51-year-old Cohen entered the plea in federal court in New York on Tuesday. The other charges involve bank fraud and income tax evasion. As part of his plea agreement, Cohen agreed not to challenge any sentence from 46 to 63 months.
Cohen's plea follows months of scrutiny from federal investigations and a falling out with the president, whom he previously said he'd "take a bullet" for. FBI raids in April sought bank records, communications with Trump's campaign and information on payments to Daniels and McDougal. Both women claimed Trump had affairs with them, which he denies.
The deal comes after reports that federal investigators were looking into whether Cohen committed bank and tax fraud worth more than $20 million, according to a media report. The New York Times, citing anonymous sources, said authorities were focusing on loans obtained for taxi businesses owned by Cohen and his family.
Investigators were also considering whether Cohen had violated campaign finance and other laws when he made financial arrangements to pay women to stay silent about alleged affairs with then-candidate Trump back in 2016.... Prosecutors had reportedly considered filing charges against Cohen by the end of August.
I have not yet seen the plea agreement (which I hope will soon be publicly available), but I assume from the line stressed above that the guideline calculation puts Cohen's offense level at least 23 under the federal sentencing guidelines. The guideline range for a first offender is 46-57 months at level 23 and is 51-63 months at level 24. The bottom and top of these ranges seem to be the basis for the range reportedly in Cohen's plea deal (and this shows, yet again, how the guidelines are always an integral part of plea negotiations and why I consider every federal sentence to be "based on" the guidelines in some way or another).
UPDATE: The folks at Lawfare now have collected here the criminal information, waiver of indictment and plea agreement in US v. Michael Cohen. The eight-page plea agreement has lots of interesting sentencing elements, and here is language (from pp. 4-5) confirming my speculations above and highlighting why there will be no departure discussions but lots of 3553(a) discussion as sentencing approaches:
Based upon the calculations set forth above, the defendant's Guidelines range is either 51 to 63 months' imprisonment under the Government's calculations, or 46 to 57 months' imprisonment under the defendant's calculations. Accordingly, the stipulated Guidelines range is 46 to 63 months' imprisonment (the "Stipulated Guidelines Range")....
The parties agree that neither a downward nor an upward departure from the Stipulated Guidelines Range set forth above is warranted. Accordingly, neither party will seek any departure or adjustment pursuant to the Guidelines that is not set forth herein. Nor will either party in any way suggest that the Probation Office or the Court consider such a departure or adjustment under the Guidelines.
The parties agree that either party may seek a sentence outside of the Stipulated Guidelines Range based upon the factors to be considered in imposing a sentence pursuant to Title 18, United States Code, Section 3553(a).
August 21, 2018 at 05:39 PM | Permalink
Comments
OTOH, I expect Cohen to get a full pardon.
Posted by: Daniel | Aug 21, 2018 9:40:32 PM
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, said in a statement that the White House was looking "increasingly like a criminal enterprise."
Nailed it!!
Posted by: Dave from Texas | Aug 22, 2018 1:24:03 AM
Trump is clearly an unindicted co-conspirator at this time. He's also impeachment proof now (with holy-roller Pence in the wings), but the day after Trump leaves office, we cann change "unindcited" to "indicted."
Posted by: Emily | Aug 22, 2018 1:26:19 AM
From today's New York Times editorial:
"On Tuesday afternoon, the American public was treated to an astonishing split-screen moment involving two of those people, as Mr. Trump’s former campaign chief was convicted by a federal jury in Virginia of multiple crimes carrying years in prison at the same time that his longtime personal lawyer pleaded guilty in federal court in New York to his own lengthy trail of criminality, and confessed that he had committed at least some of the crimes “at the direction of” Mr. Trump himself.
Let that sink in: Mr. Trump’s own lawyer has now accused him, under oath, of committing a felony.
Only a complete fantasist — that is, only President Trump and his cult — could continue to claim that this investigation of foreign subversion of an American election, which has already yielded dozens of other indictments and several guilty pleas, is a “hoax” or “scam” or “rigged witch hunt.”
Posted by: Dave from Texas | Aug 22, 2018 12:56:38 PM
"On Tuesday afternoon, the American public was treated to an astonishing split-screen moment involving two of those people, as Mr. Trump’s former campaign chief was convicted by a federal jury in Virginia of multiple crimes carrying years in prison at the same time that his longtime personal lawyer pleaded guilty in federal court in New York to his own lengthy trail of criminality, and confessed that he had committed at least some of the crimes “at the direction of” Mr. Trump himself."
Honestly. I hope true sues them for libel. The indictment alleges no such thing.
Posted by: Dabiel | Aug 22, 2018 8:35:55 PM
Sigh, auto correct..
I hope he sues them...
Posted by: Dabiel | Aug 22, 2018 8:36:28 PM
Observation: The agreement seems to prohibit a 5K departure for cooperation from being filed, even by the government.
Question: What is the point of prohibiting departures while allowing variances? That makes no sense. Why do that? What's the significance of prohibiting departures and then allowing a variance argument on similar (or even identical) grounds?
Posted by: Dave | Aug 22, 2018 11:15:41 PM
From experience, often the reason they prohibit departures in a plea agreement is that any departure - whether upward or downward, requires notice. Eg. either party must file notice in court (through cm-ecf) or through the USPO and the PSR that they intend to seek a higher or lower sentence based upon a guideline departure. In essence, it's telegraphed. There is no notice requirement for a variance so at sentencing. Both parties have more ability to seek a higher or lower sentence for any reason based upon the 3553(a) factors at sentencing by arguing for a variance.
Posted by: atomicfrog | Aug 23, 2018 2:30:50 PM
How can Trump sue the media for libel. They didn't state that Cohen was charged with acting at the direction of Trump; they reported that Cohen confessed that he had committed the crimes at the direction of Trump. While Cohen did not expressly state Trump, the language that he used clearly implied Trump such that the media companies will be able to fairly state that they reasonably believed that Cohen meant Trump. And given the tapes that have already been released in which Trump and Cohen discussed those payments, the media should be able to show that they did not act for reckless disregard of the truth.
If Trump sues Cohen, he would have a more colorable argument. Not sure any person has ever been subjected to libel (or more accurately slander or defamation of character) for statements made during a guilty plea. Additionally, Trump would bear the burden of proving that Cohen's statements are false. And if Trump did file such a lawsuit, he would be subject to a deposition in which he would be asked what he told Cohen about those payments. If (when) Trump does not honestly answer that question, he could be facing a perjury charge, especially if Cohen has additional tapes of their conversations.
I am sure a lot of folks hope that Trump does file such a suit; most of those folks do not like Trump.
Posted by: tmm | Aug 23, 2018 4:32:16 PM
I am truly sorry to say that we are experiencing the most corrupt administration since that of Richard Nixon.
Posted by: anon1 | Aug 23, 2018 7:43:07 PM
Trump's next cabinet meeting will be at the visiting room of Leavenworth.
Posted by: Nancy | Aug 25, 2018 12:05:15 AM