Fixer Sentenced to 3 years in Prison UPDATED

Trump executive Michael Cohen. Photo by IowaPolitics.com.

The onetime lawyer and self-proclaimed fixer for President Donald Trump, Michael Cohen was sentenced to 3 years in prison on Wednesday. 

U.S. District Judge William Pauley III according to Courthouse News “pronounced,” the sentence at the end of an “one-hour” hearing, where according to the linked article, Judge Pauley called Cohen’s crimes, “a smorgasbord,” of criminal activity that invloved, “deception,” and said that Cohen was motivated by, “personal greed and ambition.” 

Cohen’s sentencing comes months after his office and home were raided by the FBI pursuant to a warrant, where they gathered over “1 million,” documents. 

In August Cohen appeared in court where he pleaded guilty to, “five counts of tax evasion, one count of making a false statement to a bank and two campaign finance violations: making an unlawful corporate campaign contribution and making an excessive campaign contribution.”

In November of 2018, Cohen entered into a plea agreement with the Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Office, pleading guilty to one count of making “false statements,” to the legislative branch in August of 2017. 

According to Courthouse News reporter Adam Klasfeld, Judge Pauley has given Cohen until March 6th to “voluntarily surrender,” also recommending that he serves his term in “Otisville.” 

Tim O’Brien, Executive Editor for Bloomberg Opinion, tweets that Cohen has also been hit with a fine of $50,000 and “forfeiture of $500,000,” and must make “restitution of 1.4 million.” 

Update 

The U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of New York have issued a press release relating to Michael Cohen, American Media Inc., and the payment of $150,000 to one Karen McDougal. 

From the Press Release

  • In one instance, COHEN caused American Media, Inc. (“AMI”), which was identified in previous court filings as “Corporation-1,” to make a $150,000 payment to one woman; in the other, COHEN made a $130,000 payment to another woman through an LLC he incorporated for the purpose of making the payment.  COHEN was reimbursed for the latter payment in monthly installments disguised as payments for legal services performed pursuant to a retainer, when in fact no such retainer existed.  COHEN made or caused both of these payments in order to influence the 2016 election and did so in coordination with one or more members of the campaign.
  • The Office also announced today that it has previously reached a non-prosecution agreement with AMI, in connection with AMI’s role in making the above-described $150,000 payment before the 2016 presidential election.  As a part of the agreement, AMI admitted that it made the $150,000 payment in concert with a candidate’s presidential campaign, and in order to ensure that the woman did not publicize damaging allegations about the candidate before the 2016 presidential election.  AMI further admitted that its principal purpose in making the payment was to suppress the woman’s story so as to prevent it from influencing the election.

The statement goes on to say that AMI has accepted, “responsibility, its substantial and important assistance in this investigation, and its agreement to provide cooperation in the future and implement specific improvements to its internal compliance to prevent future violations of the federal campaign finance laws.”

As the News Blender reported in August, The National Enquirer’s chairman, CEO of American Media Inc., David Pecker, “a longtime friend of President Donald Trump,” was granted immunity regarding the investigation into Michael Cohen and the payments made to the two women. 

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About Tiff 2520 Articles
Member of the Free Press who is politically homeless and a political junkie.