UNITED STATES—Rick Gates, former Senior Aide to the Trump Campaign, and associate of Paul Manafort, was sentenced on Tuesday, December 17, for crimes uncovered during the Robert Mueller investigation.
Gates was sentenced to 45 days in jail and 3 years probation after pleading guilty to the charges of lying and conspiracy.
Video footage cites Gates’s “extraordinary assistance in the Mueller probe” as a reason for his lenient sentence. Gates was fined $20,000 and ordered to complete 300 hours of community service. He assisted during the Mueller investigation which ended in a seven and a half prison sentence against Manafort and convicted political consultant and lobbyist, Roger Stone. Gates is one of six people charged during the investigation.
According to the indictment, Gates and Manafort served as political consultants and lobbyists. From 2006-2015 during the Obama administration, both acted as unregistered agents for the government in Ukraine generating tens of millions of dollars in income from their work in the country.
Page two of the indictment indicates that Manafort and Gates funneled millions of dollars through foreign companies and bank accounts they kept hidden and failed to report the income on their tax returns. Payments were made by Ukraine and its political parties.
Paragraph three of the indictment states that Manafort and Gates kept the information concealed from the United States. The entire indictment can be viewed here.
