US political consultant and Donald Trump's former campaign deputy chairman Rick Gates was sentenced to serve three years on probation as well as to spend a total of 45 days in jail on weekends. Gates was also ordered to pay a fine of $20,000 and take part in community service.
The former Trump campaign official pleaded guilty to charges of lying to the FBI and conspiracy against the US in February 2018 and received a lighter sentence due to providing valuable information in the investigation into the crimes of two other campaign officials - Roger Stone and Paul Manafort. In his address to the court, Gates said that he regrets the actions that led him to the conviction.
Trump's Campaign Aides Sentenced Due to Gates’ Testimonies
Both Gates and Manafort were accused of failing to disclose their status as foreign agents, having worked for former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, as well as of hiding their earnings from the job from US tax authorities. Manafort was found guilty on 13 March 2019 of conspiracy to defraud the US and of witness tampering, receiving a total of 73 months in prison, 30 of which he had already served in jail by that time.
These facts surfaced as a result of Robert Mueller's probe into an alleged conspiracy between Trump and Moscow in 2016, but the cases of both men are unrelated to the primary goal of the investigation.
Gates not only testified in Manafort's case, but also against Roger Stone - Donald Trump's former adviser and a veteran US political consultant. The latter was found guilty of giving false testimonies to Congress on five occasions, obstructing justice, and witness tampering on 15 November 2019. His sentence is yet to be determined.