A federal judge has sentenced Roger Stone to 40 months in prison. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson blasted Stone before handing down his sentence.
"At his core, Mr. Stone is an insecure person who craves and recklessly pursues attention. Nothing about this case was a joke. It wasn't funny," she said.
Stone was convicted on seven counts of lying to Congress, obstruction of justice and witness tampering.
The case has been under intense scrutiny after the Department of Justice withdrew its original sentencing recommendation that Stone should serve seven to nine years in jail, following a tweet from President Donald Trump. Attorney General Bill Barr's decision to get involved resulted in the resignation of the four prosecutors working the case. It also sparked multiple calls for Barr to step down as Attorney General over concerns that he was bowing to political pressure from President Trump to protect Stone.
The new prosecutors on the case appeared to be sticking to the original recommendation, arguing that Stone deserved a lengthy prison sentence. Jackson sided with the Justice Department and pointed out that while they withdrew their initial recommendation, it was still part of the record. She said that she believes Stone's sentence should be longer because he threatened a witness.
President Trump has suggested that he would pardon Stone. Earlier in the week, Trump pardoned Rod Blagojevich, the former Democratic governor of Illinois, along with junk bond trader Michael Milken and former New York police commissioner Bernie Kerik.
During the proceedings, Trump tweeted that others have lied to Congress and not faced any punishment.
They say Roger Stone lied to Congress." @CNN OH, I see, but so did Comey (and he also leaked classified information, for which almost everyone, other than Crooked Hillary Clinton, goes to jail for a long time), and so did Andy McCabe, who also lied to the FBI! FAIRNESS?
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