Government

Michael Cohen, The 'Dumb Ray Donovan' Of Our Time, Sentenced To Three Years

Cohen said that he committed his criminal acts out of 'blind loyalty' to 'Donald Trump.'

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Michael Cohen (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, was sentenced to three years in prison today, for his participation in schemes to commit campaign finance fraud and lying to Congress. Cohen was also fined $100,000.

At the sentencing hearing, Cohen said that he “accepted full responsibility” for his criminal acts, which he said he committed out of “blind loyalty” to “Donald Trump” — “[a] blind loyalty that led me to choose darkness over light.”

The sentencing guidelines called for a sentence around five years, but Cohen cooperated with ongoing investigation in both the Southern District of New York and with special counsel Robert Mueller’s office. While SDNY refused to call Cohen a full cooperator, they did note his efforts. The downward departure from the guidelines are pretty standard in cases where people at least partially cooperate.

In handing down the sentence, Judge William Pauley emphasized the seriousness of Cohen’s crimes, including lying to Congress. Pauley said that the sentencing guidelines do not fully capture the harm of lying to Congress. One might interpret Pauley’s comments as a warning to others who think of misleading Congressional investigations.

Pauley also went out of his way to say that Cohen needed a “specific deterrence” from lying to Congress again. At some level, all sentences are meant to “deter” others from committing similar crimes. But Pauley suggested that Cohen needed a specific reminder that lying to Congress is bad. It sure sounds like the criminal justice system might not be done with the Mr. Cohen just yet. Cohen somewhat clearly was hoping for a lighter sentence than what he received. We don’t know if, now, Cohen might be encouraged to cooperate even more fully with the investigations.

It’s important to note that there is no “parole” in the federal system. Those sentenced to more than a year can be eligible for a sentence reduction based on good behavior — accruing up to 54 days per year. But one should expect Cohen to do the vast majority of the time he’s sentenced to.

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We shouldn’t understate the significance of this sentence. The president’s personal lawyer is now a convicted felon. He has admitted to committing crimes at the behest of the president. He has admitted to lying to Congress, and it is likely that the president knew his personal lawyer was lying to Congress while that lawyer was giving false testimony.

Please call your Republican senators and alert them of these crimes. It does not appear they have been informed yet about what is happening in America.

Michael Cohen Has Been Sentenced To Three Years In Prison [Buzzfeed News]

Elie Mystal is the Executive Editor of Above the Law and the Legal Editor for More Perfect. He can be reached @ElieNYC on Twitter, or at elie@abovethelaw.com. He will resist.

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