President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort was sentenced to 47 months in prison on Thursday.

The sentence handed down by US District Judge T.S. Ellis III in Alexandria, Virginia, is well below the federal sentencing recommendation of 19 to 24 years in prison.

After being indicted on 18 counts brought by the special counsel Robert Mueller's office, Manafort was convicted of eight counts of tax and bank fraud by a jury last year; a mistrial was declared for the other 10 counts because of a deadlocked jury.

The sentence, just shy of four years, left some political pundits, former prosecutors, legal experts, and public defenders flummoxed — and they aired both their shock and their theories behind the sentencing on Twitter.

President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort was sentenced to 47 months in prison on Thursday.

The sentence handed down by US District Judge T.S. Ellis III in Alexandria, Virginia, was well below the federal sentencing recommendation of 19 to 24 years in prison.

After being indicted on 18 counts brought by the special counsel Robert Mueller's office, Manafort was convicted of eight counts of tax and bank fraud by a jury last year; a mistrial was declared for the other 10 counts because of a deadlocked jury.

The nearly four-year sentence left some political pundits, former prosecutors, legal experts, and public defenders flummoxed — and they aired both their shock and their theories behind the sentencing on Twitter.

This is just the first of two sentences Manafort will face, as he struck a plea deal with Mueller's office and pleaded guilty to two counts obstruction and conspiracy. US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson is overseeing that case in Washington, DC, and she has yet to hand down her sentence.

Here's what experts are saying about the prison sentence Manafort was given Thursday: