Washington: Paul J. Manafort, President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager, on Thursday pleaded not guilty in the New York Supreme Court to state fraud charges brought by the Manhattan district attorney’s office, the third criminal case he has faced in recent years.
Manafort has been charged by state prosecutors with 16 felony counts, including residential mortgage fraud and falsifying business records, CNN reported.
On March 8, Manafort was awarded 47 months in prison and was convicted on charges of stemming from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into alleged interference by Russia in the 2016 presidential election and potential collaboration between Trump campaign and Moscow.
Manafort is currently serving a seven-and-a-half-year prison sentence after being convicted last year on charges of tax fraud, bank fraud and foreign lobbying violations.
Manafort also agreed to cooperate with the ongoing investigation into Russian meddling probe in the 2016 polls. He had pleaded guilty to criminal charges that he cheated Internal Revenue Service, violated foreign lobbying laws and tried justice.
During Thursday’s proceedings, Justice Maxwell Wile fixed the next date of court session on October 9.
Manafort will remain in federal custody while the New York state case against him will proceed, a prosecutor from the Manhattan district attorney’s office was quoted as saying. However, the prosecutor did not specify the facility where Manafort will be held.
The state charges relate to mortgages Manafort received on properties in the New York area between 2015 and 2017, involving some of the same loans that led to his conviction by a federal jury last summer.
Though Manafort is already serving a lengthy sentence, the state case is potentially consequential for him because a conviction in state court would remain even if he were to receive a presidential pardon for his federal crimes. Such a pardon does not apply to state crimes.
[source_without_link]ANI[/source_without_link]