Gates' Plea Agreement Promises Full Cooperation With Mueller Probe
By Tierney Sneed | February 23, 2018 3:37 pm
Rick Gates, a former campaign aide to President Trump, pleaded guilty to two counts — conspiracy against the U.S. and false statements to federal authorities — in a federal courtroom Friday at a hearing that suggested Special Counsel Robert Mueller was expecting months of cooperation from Gates as part of the plea deal.
At the hearing, Andrew Weissmann, one of the attorneys representing the special counsel’s office, said that they would prefer not to set a sentencing date for Gates yet, and were seeking a status conference in three to four months instead. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson set a deadline for a status report for May 14.
The conviction of Gates is part of Mueller’s Russia probe. Gates — along with his longtime business partner, former campaign chairman Paul Manafort —had first been indicted by Mueller in Octoberin Washington, and a second indictment against them in Virginia became public on Thursday. Manafort, in a statement Friday via his spokesman, said he was maintaining his innocence.
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At Gates’ plea hearing, the judge floated that the sentencing guidelines would likely recommend Gates serve between 57 and 71 months in prison, and pay a $20,000 to $200,000 fine. Jackson cautioned, however, that she may ultimately stray from those recommendations.
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