Roger Stone was sentenced to 40 months — or 3 years and 4 months — in prison Thursday morning for impeding Trump-Russia investigation.
Stone, who worked as a campaign adviser for Trump, was found guilty in November 2019 on all federal counts in a trial stemming from special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. Those counts included providing false statements to the House Intelligence Committee about contact with WikiLeaks, obstructing a congressional investigation of Russian election interference, and witness tampering.
Going into the sentencing, Stone requested probation and the Department of Justice recommended prison time.
It’s believed that Trump will pardon Stone. Trump ramped up his support of his friend and ally this week, tweeting things like, “Two months in jail for a Swamp Creature, yet 9 years recommended for Roger Stone (who was not even working for the Trump Campaign). Gee, that sounds very fair! Rogue prosecutors maybe? The Swamp!”
Trump also tweeted a clip of Fox News host Tucker Carlson urging Stone’s pardon.
Earlier in the week, Trump commuted the sentence of disgraced former Illinois governor and “Celebrity Apprentice” contestant Rod Blagojevich, citing Blagojevich’s wife’s appeals to him directly on Fox News. He also pardoned Edward DeBartolo Jr., the former San Francisco 49ers owner who was convicted in a gambling fraud scandal. Trump is expected to pardon Stone.
Attorney General Bill Barr publicly condemned Trump’s tweets on Stone last week, saying they “make it impossible for me to do my job.”
“I’m not going to be bullied or influenced by anybody … whether it’s Congress, a newspaper editorial board, or the president,” he said in an interview with ABC News. “I’m gonna do what I think is right. And you know … I cannot do my job here at the department with a constant background commentary that undercuts me.”