U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson is not happy with Paul Manafort. Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson sentenced Paul Manafort to 43 months in prison Wednesday, six months after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges. Add that to the 47 months he received last week for bank and tax fraud, and the former Trump campaign chairman is looking at seven and a half years in prison.

Prior to Jackson handing down the sentence, Manafort attempted to apologize and win sympathy from the judge. She was having none of it. In a pre-sentencing statement, Jackson lit into Manafort for stealing from taxpayers to buy gaudy suits, failing to show genuine contrition, and being a complete liar.

She began her remarks by challenging the notion, pushed by Manafort, that he is a victim. His sob story — “I will be 70 years old in a few weeks. My wife is 66. She needs me. I need her,” he said — did not work on Jackson.

Jackson begins by saying the briefing and arguments have been marked by "passion" and "hyperbole": "This defendant is not public enemy number one. But he’s not a victim either." — Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) March 13, 2019

She told him not to be such a big baby.

9/ Judge Jackson, cont'd: "His life is not over and he's gonna have the opportunity to make something positive out of this." Says that her task is not to decide what kind of person Manafort is, or whether he is "worthy" of forgiveness. — Alex Wagner (@alexwagner) March 13, 2019

How full of shit is Manafort? “Hard to overstate,” Jackson said.

Jackson says it would be "hard to overstate" the number of lies and the extent of the fraud, "and there is no good expalantion that would warrant the leniency requested" — Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) March 13, 2019

Jackson reminded Manafort that his crimes were committed largely in pursuit of buying more stuff, including a bunch of stupid-expensive clothes. Among the haul, a $15,000 ostrich jacket.

Jackson skewers Manafort for cheating taxpayers. “Why? Not to support a family but to sustain a lifestyle at the most opulent and extravagant level" and to buy "more houses than one man can enjoy, more suits than one man can wear.” — Darren Samuelsohn (@dsamuelsohn) March 13, 2019

Despite his apparent contrition, Manafort is not being forthcoming about the witness-tampering allegations against him, Jackson said. This is a reference to the accusation from last June that Manafort called and texted witnesses and asked them to lie on his behalf. One of them ratted him out to the FBI.

Judge Amy Berman Jackson on Manafort's witness tampering: “The sentencing memorandum has given me concern because he hasn’t really accepted responsibility for this offense.”

On plea deal: “While he agreed to plead guilty to this court, he backed away from the facts.” — Will Rabbe (@WillRabbe) March 13, 2019

Jackson said Manafort’s dishonesty is ongoing. She also seemed to be referencing someone else with this line about “facts.” Wonder who???

Judge Amy Berman Jackson, during Manafort sentencing, says he’s “not being straight with me now.”



“Court is one of those places where facts still matter." — Peter Alexander (@PeterAlexander) March 13, 2019

She conceded that Manafort’s prison sentence would be hard on his family. But they’re rich, she said, so they can deal.

The judge acknowledged the letters from Manafort's family, and said that it was unfortunately true that incarceration can tear apart a family — but she said that's true for everyone, and "this is a family that has the means to sustain itself in the interim." — Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) March 13, 2019

Regarding his apology, Jackson gave Manafort a C-minus.

Jackson: ​The elements of remorse and personal responsibility were "completely absent" before Manafort's verbal apology. — Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) March 13, 2019

Jackson seemed particularly annoyed at Manafort’s defense and at what she called the “‘no collusion’ refrain” in its sentencing memo. His lawyers suggested that Manafort only faced conspiracy charges because Mueller couldn’t charge him with anything related to collusion. That’s stupid, Jackson said, and it shows that Manafort is not remorseful.

The judge slams Manafort and his lawyers for making the "unsubstantiated" claim that Manafort was only charged by Mueller's office because they couldn't charge him with anything related to the campaign. "The noncollusion mantra is simply a non sequitor" — Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) March 13, 2019

Jackson: "The defendant's insistence that none of this should be happening to him… that the prosecution is misguided and excessive and invalid ... is just one more thing that is inconsistent with a genuine acceptance of responsibilty." — Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) March 13, 2019

Jackson refuted the idea that Manafort’s prison stay was excessively intolerable. Last summer, his lawyer tried to win sympathy for Manafort by complaining about how he’s been “locked in his cell for at least 23 hours per day.”

"The defendant was not in the SHU!" Jackson says, blasting the Manafort defense team for making it seem as though their client was in solitary confinement. — Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) March 13, 2019

In the end, Jackson threw Manafort a bone before sentencing him.

Judge Jackson says she agrees with Manafort (as did Judge Ellis last week) that the 19-24 year guideline "overstates the seriousness of this offense." — Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) March 13, 2019

Then she made it known that after spending “a significant portion of his career gaming the system,” as Jackson put it, Manafort will serve seven and a half years in prison.