The judge also agreed to allow Rick Gates, who lives in Richmond, Va., to travel freely in the area around his home, northern Virginia and Washington, and to end a nightly curfew. | Mark Wilson/Getty Images Legal Judge ends GPS monitoring for Rick Gates

A federal judge on Monday approved a request to end GPS location monitoring of Rick Gates, a former Trump campaign deputy chairman who is a key cooperating defendant in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.

U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson granted Gates’ request, allowing him to be relieved of a bracelet that tracks his movements as he awaits sentencing and continues to meet with prosecutors. She also agreed to allow Gates, who lives in Richmond, Virginia, to travel freely in the area around his home, northern Virginia and Washington, and to end a nightly curfew.


Prosecutors from Mueller’s team did not object to Gates’ request, nor to a similar one he made in February just after he pleaded guilty to two felony charges: conspiracy against the U.S. and making a false statement in a federal investigation.

However, while Jackson turned down the request earlier this year, she took a different stance Monday.

“The Court now has the benefit of additional information, including defendant’s record of ongoing cooperation with the government, his testimony at the trial in the Eastern District of Virginia under difficult circumstances, as well as his compliance with all of the travel conditions to date,” Jackson wrote in an order . “In light of all of those circumstances, and in consideration of the matters set forth in all of the previous bond motions, the financial conditions imposed in previous orders, and the government’s consent, the motion will be granted, and the conditions of defendant’s release will be modified to eliminate the curfew and the requirement of GPS monitoring.”

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Jackson said Gates would still be required to advise a probation officer in advance about his travel plans.

No sentencing date has been set for Gates. After his testimony in the trial of his former business partner and co-defendant, Paul Manafort, in August, Manafort was convicted on eight counts, while the jury deadlocked on 10 others.

Whether Gates’ testimony at the trial actually aided prosecutors is open to doubt. Some jurors indicated they didn’t trust him and disregarded his testimony.

Manafort cut a plea deal of his own last month as a second trial loomed in Washington. He pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy and obstruction of justice. In addition, he remains convicted on the eight felony counts in Virginia, although the agreement calls for the 10 mistried counts there to be dismissed.

A judge in Alexandria has called a hearing for Friday to discuss the details of when those counts will be dismissed and under what circumstances.

