Just in — Stone sentenced to 40 months in prison!
The Justice Department attorneys were defensive and apologetic with Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who noted early on that the original, guidelines-based sentencing memo had not been withdrawn and was still before the court. She also shut down the defense attorneys’ argument that Stone’s threatening of witness Randy Credico should not be viewed as an aggravating factor because Credico did not take the threat seriously. She noted that he had also threatened her via social media, and that such “incendiary” behavior was “intolerable” for the administration of justice.
DOJ attorney John Crabb Jr. apologized for the “confusion” caused by the two sentencing memos, refused to say who had written the second memo (which called for leniency), but defended the original prosecutors who resigned due to interference, saying they had been authorized to file the original memo. He also conceded that Stone should get a “substantial” amount of time in prison.
Judge Jackson obviously agreed. She went through great detail outlining Stone’s bad actions, and noted that this was not a case of political persecution, but that he brought the prosecution on himself. She called him an insecure person “who craves and recklessly pursues attention.”
The only question now is whether Trump will further interfere by pardoning Stone.