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AGENCIES
Washington
A former senior official in Donald Trump's 2016 US presidential campaign, Rick Gates, pleaded guilty on Friday to conspiracy against the United States and lying to investigators, and is cooperating with a federal probe into Russia's role in the election.
The office of Special Counsel Robert Mueller told a federal court that Mueller would consider petitioning for Gates, a former deputy campaign manager for Trump, to serve a shorter sentence if he cooperates with the investigation. Sentencing guidelines call for him to serve a prison term between 57 months and 71 months for the charges he pleaded guilty to.
Gates, together with his former business partner and ex-Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, were originally charged on October 30 with multiple counts of laundering $75 million and tax evasion related to their work from 2006 to 2014 for former Russia-backed Ukraine president Viktor Yanukovych.
They were also accused of illegally representing a foreign government, Ukraine, as lobbyists without first registering with the US government as foreign agents.
In Gates' deal, the original charges were rolled into one count of conspiracy to defraud the government and a second of lying over his unregistered lobbying for Ukraine.
In a letter to family and friends made public by some US news outlets, Gates said he had planned to defend himself but"had a change of heart," and was ready to accept"public humiliation" to avoid inflicting prolonged pain on his children.
"The reality of how long this legal process will likely take, the cost, and the circus-like atmosphere of an anticipated trial are too much. I will better serve my family moving forward by exiting this process," he wrote.
Manafort, a veteran US political consultant, continues to battle Mueller over the original charges and an additional set filed Thursday accusing him of defrauding banks on loans in the United States and lying on his taxes. Gates was also included in that separate case.
In a statement late Thursday, Manafort' spokesman said he was innocent and"confident that he will be acquitted of all charges."
"The new allegations against Mr. Manafort, once again, have nothing to do with Russia and 2016 election interference/collusion," the spokesman said.
