Kuzma/iStock(WASHINGTON) — Federal prosecutors told a federal judge on Monday that Roger Stone, President Donald Trump’s longtime friend and onetime campaign adviser, should be sentenced to serve seven to nine years in prison.In November, jurors found Stone guilty on all seven counts brought against him by former special counsel Robert Mueller, as part of his investigation into Russian election interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The charges, brought against Stone in January 2019, included five counts of lying to Congress, one count each of witness tampering and obstruction of a proceeding.Stone pleaded not guilty to them all, and vowed that he would be “vindicated” at trial. He maintained his innocence throughout the trial, which coincided with the opening of House impeachment proceedings against Trump on Capitol Hill.In court papers filed on Monday, government prosecutors outlined their case from Stone’s trial, highlighting each count against him and citing the incidents that led to Judge Amy Berman Jackson gradually issuing stricter gag orders against Stone in the months leading up to his trial.The charges filed against him revolved around Stone’s sworn testimony in September 2017 before the House Intelligence Committee. Specifically, Stone was found guilty of lying to Congress about conversations he had about hacked material published by Wikileaks that Russian military hackers allegedly stole from the Democratic National Committee and then-Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager, John Podesta. Stone was also charged with witness tampering by urging his former associate, Randy Credico, to exercise his Fifth Amendment rights before the committee.”Stone knew the gravity of the House Intelligence Committee’s investigation when he obstructed it by giving false testimony and tampering with a witness,” government lawyers wrote in their sentencing memo filed Monday. “Indeed, Stone acknowledged as much in his opening statement before the Committee. Stone chose — consciously, repeatedly, and flagrantly — to obstruct and interfere with the search for the truth on an issue of vital importance to all Americans.”Prosecutors later added, “Roger Stone obstructed Congress’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, lied under oath, and tampered with a witness. And when his crimes were revealed by the indictment in this case, he displayed contempt for this Court and the rule of law. For that, he should be punished in accord with the advisory Guidelines.”
The guidelines range for Stone’s sentencing is 87-108 months in prison, or seven to nine years.In response, Stone’s lawyers disputed the sentencing guidelines outlined by federal prosecutors in the defense’s sentencing memo filed late Monday night, arguing Stone’s convicted offenses do not warrant the high sentencing range of seven to nine years in prison that the government is recommending.After presenting their argument against the prosecution’s proposed sentencing guidelines, Stone’s attorneys wrote to Judge Amy Berman Jackson, “It is respectfully submitted that the Court should impose a non-Guidelines sentence of probation with any conditions that the Court deems reasonable under the circumstances.”Jackson is scheduled to sentence Stone on Feb. 20. Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
