WASHINGTON (AP) – A federal judge on Tuesday sentenced former Trump campaign official Rick Gates to 45 days in jail despite what she said was “extraordinary” cooperation with special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe and other Justice Department investigations.
The jail sentence, which U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson said was needed to deter others and to reflect the seriousness of his crimes, is to be served intermittently during three years of probation that she also imposed.
The sentence resolves one of the lingering open court cases arising from Mueller’s investigation into ties between Russia and President Donald Trump’s campaign. Gates is now the fourth Trump associate to receive at least some time behind bars because of the probe, though his sentence is far less than the punishment he could have faced when he was first charged and reflected the judge’s efforts to balance his crimes against the help he’s given the government in the last two years.
Prosecutors didn’t seek prison time for Gates, who pleaded guilty in February 2018 to charges relating to lucrative political consulting work he did in Ukraine. They cited his extensive cooperation, which included testifying in three trials, more than 50 meetings with the government, and a commitment to continue sharing information with prosecutors even after his sentence.
Jackson commended Gates for his assistance, describing it as an “important public service” that went to the heart of the central question that Mueller and his team sought to answer – whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia during the 2016 presidential election.