Washington (CNN) Ex-Donald Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos has been sentenced to two weeks in prison for lying to investigators about his contact with individuals tied to Russia during the 2016 campaign.

Papadopolous will also have 12 months of supervised release, serve 200 hours of community service within about a year and will be fined $9,500.

Before he must surrender to prison, Papadopoulos may be able to travel to New York and to California, where he plans to relocate.

This is the first sentence dealt to a Trump campaign affiliate in special counsel's Robert Mueller's probe into Russian interference in the Trump campaign.

Papadopoulos was arrested more than a year ago and pleaded guilty to lying to investigators about his contacts with several people connected to Russia during the campaign.

For months, his significance in the special counsel's investigation was unclear. His sentencing Friday made clear he had barely been a cooperator in the investigation, yet had serious contact with Russia's affiliates in Europe as they tried to lure the Trump campaign.

He had discussed with those foreigners the possibility of a foreign trip where Donald Trump could meet Vladimir Putin. He had also heard from them that the Russians had "dirt," in the form of emails, on Hillary Clinton, though he did not realize the seriousness of the stolen emails before they were released, his attorney said.

Before he was sentenced, Papadopoulos spoke to Judge Randy Moss for about three minutes, reading a speech in which he admitted he was wrong, ashamed and regretful.

"People point and snicker and I am terribly depressed," he said. "This investigation has global implications and the truth matters."

His attorney and the judge both emphasized how Papadopoulos had put his own ambition and the interests of Trump ahead of the needs of an investigation of national importance. "I made a terrible mistake," Papadopoulos told the judge.

Dressed in a navy suit and navy polka dot tie, he kept his eyes closed for several minutes before the hearing began. His wife, Simona Mangiante, sat in the front row nodding as the judge addressed her husband.

Moss said he gave Papadopoulos 14 days because he researched how many defendants with this type of charge resulted in prison time -- and it was fewer than half.

Moss also looked to Alex Van Der Zwaan's sentence of 30 days in prison, and noted how Van Der Zwaan was a lawyer and expressed far less remorse to the judge at his sentencing compared to Papadopoulos.

Moss said he suspects that "just the process of having to go to prison will leave a strong impression on him for the remainder of his life." Moss also noted how his lies were serious, and how Papadopoulos placed his own self interest and his loyalty to a candidate over his loyalty to his country.

Then speaking directly to Papadopoulos, Moss said: "I know the sentence is painful to you. I'm sure you're wondering what comes next," and that he was impressed by his words to the judge. "I hope you think of your sentence as the beginning of that second chance."

The special counsel's office had asked for up to six months in prison.

Papadopoulos' mother Kiki, aunt Maria and father Tony spoke to CNN as they exited the hearing. Maria said that the judge "got it right" in giving Papadopoulos 14 days in prison.

"We were hoping for no jail time but two weeks is OK," Maria Stamatopoulos said.

"It's time to think about everything," Kiki Papadopoulos added.

After Papadopoulos and his legal team left the courthouse in a black Chevy Suburban, his family members hung behind outside the courthouse. His mother interrupted a reporter at work to ask how to post a tweet about the afternoon's events.

Pointing fingers at Trump

Before the sentence was read, Papadopoulos' defense attorney, Thomas Breen, pointed fingers at Trump.

"The President of the United States hindered this investigation more than George Papadopoulos ever did," Breen said.

Breen told a rapt courtroom that Papadopoulos has already faced his penalty over the past year, and realized he needed to disavow the Trump administration in favor of the truth.

"The message is for all of us to check our loyalty, to tell the truth, to help the good guys," Breen said. He recalled how he and attorney Robert Stanley and Papadopoulos visited the FBI office in Chicago months ago and noticed the photos of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Trump hanging on the lobby wall.

"We were going in there to cooperate potentially against those two individuals," he said.

With the sentence, the young man whom Trump administration officials called a "coffee boy" and whose family members have argued is caught in a spy conspiracy will become the first Trump campaign affiliate to have his criminal case reach its completion in the court system.

Papadopoulos has asked the judge for extreme leniency. He hopes to be excused from probation immediately after the sentencing because of the last 13 months he's spent since his arrest, his memo said.

"George told the agents he had no knowledge of anyone on the campaign colluding with the Russians and it would not have been in anyone's interest to undermine the democratic process," his lawyers wrote in a memo last weekend. "While his offense was grave, Mr. Papadopoulos did not intend to derail the federal investigation."

They allege Papadopoulos thwarted an ongoing national security investigation and contributed to them losing track of Joseph Mifsud, the professor who knew about the "dirt" on Hillary Clinton, before they could effectively question him. And, the prosecutors add, Papadopoulos has been difficult for them to handle since he was arrested in July 2017.

"The defendant did not provide 'substantial assistance' " after that arrest, prosecutors wrote to the judge, "and much of the information provided by the defendant came only after the government confronted him."

A week before his sentencing, Papadopoulos' legal team took a final swipe at the administration. He publicly contradicted, in his court filing, congressional testimony from Sessions about Sessions' response to the Putin-Trump meeting proposal.

Only one other criminal defendant in the Russia probe has been sentenced. That was Van Der Zwaan, a London-based Dutch lawyer who worked for the law firm Skadden Arps and assisted Paul Manafort and Rick Gates in rolling out a public relations effort for Ukrainian politicians for whom they worked. Van Der Zwaan pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in February and admitted to hiding his communications with Manafort's team in 2016 from federal investigators. He received a sentence of 30 days in prison and a $20,000 fine. Van Der Zwaan was deported after he served his time in a low-security facility in Pennsylvania.</s>George Papadopoulos, a former foreign policy aide to President Donald Trump's campaign, has been sentenced to 14 days in prison for lying to the FBI.

The sentence was imposed Friday in federal court in Washington, DC. In addition to prison, a federal judge ordered Papadopoulos to pay a $9,500 fine and complete 300 hours of community service.

He is the first former campaign aide to be sentenced in the special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation.

Papadopoulos apologized for his actions during his sentencing hearing on Friday, telling the judge that he had made a "dreadful mistake" and was eager for redemption. Prosecutors sought a sentence of up to six months, while defense lawyers asked for probation.

Papadopoulos' case was the first to detail a member of the Trump campaign having knowledge of Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election while it was ongoing.

He pleaded guilty last year to lying to investigators during a January 2017 FBI interview about conversations he had with Maltese professor Joseph Mifsud, who told Papadopoulos in March 2016 that the Russian government had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton in the form of thousands of hacked emails.

Prosecutors said Papadopoulos' lies caused irreparable harm to the investigation and he did not provide substantial assistance, but his attorneys said he cooperated fully.

Papadopoulos' wife, Simona Maginante, has ramped up claims as of late that her husband is innocent and was entrapped by the FBI and pressured into pleading guilty. She attempted, unsuccessfully, to scrap Papadopoulos' plea deal with Mueller on that basis.

"Knowing his case, he clearly didn't commit any crime, since every crime is characterized by a 'status of mind' [sic] and a motive, it's pretty clear George had no reason to lie about the date in which he met with professor Mifsud," Maginante told Business Insider in August.

Two other Trump campaign aides, Michael Flynn and Rick Gates, have also struck plea deals to cooperate in the Mueller probe, but neither have yet been sentenced.

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was convicted in Virginia last month on 8 counts of tax fraud, bank fraud, and failure to register foreign bank accounts. He will face a second federal trial in Washington, DC, this month.</s>Donald Trump’s former campaign adviser George Papadopoulos has been sentenced to 14 days in prison for lying to the FBI.

The sentence was imposed in federal court in Washington.

Papadopoulos is the first former campaign aide to be sentenced in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.

He apologised for his actions, telling a judge that he had made a “dreadful mistake” and was eager for redemption.

Prosecutors sought a sentence of up to six months, while defence lawyers asked for probation.

His case was the first to detail a member of the Trump campaign having knowledge of Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 US presidential election while it was ongoing.</s>George Papadopoulos, the former campaign adviser to President Donald Trump, was sentenced this afternoon for 14 days in jail for lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russian interests during the campaign.

Papadopoulos had pleaded guilty to the crime last October. Papdopoulos had allegedly been communicating with a professor and with ties to the Russian government who told him that Russia had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton, including those stolen emails. He gave false statements about his contacts to the FBI, which the FBI said impeded their investigation into the extent that Russian meddling may have worked its way into the campaign.

Papadopoulos is now opening up to the press and in an interview with The New York Times he explains:

"I wanted to distance myself as much as possible — and Trump himself and the campaign — from what was probably an illegal action or dangerous information," he said. At the time of the F.B.I. interview, he said, he was being considered for a job in the Trump administration and was concerned about where the escalating investigation might lead. He made no suggestion that anyone else on the Trump campaign or in the administration had directed him to lie.

Prosecutors had asked for six months. Papadopoulos' attorney asked for probation. In addition to the 14-day sentence, he's been fined $9,500, and ordered to complete 200 hours of community service and one year of probation.

Ken "Popehat" White, himself a former federal prosecutor (and occasional Reason contributor), doesn't see anything particularly special about the sentence:

Yeah, good luck with that. Here's Trump's response (presumably about the cost of the investigation thus far):

Probably the lesson to be learned here comes not from Trump or anybody at the FBI but from Papadopoulos' own mother, courtesy of Washington Post reporter Rosalind Helderman:</s>The former part-time volunteer Trump campaign advisor George Papadopoulos has been sentenced today to 14 days in prison for lying to FBI investigators about the timing of his contact with the sketchy Maltese professor Joseph Misfud. Special Counsel Robert Mueller had recommended 30 days in prison.

(Reuters) WASHINGTON – A U.S. judge on Friday sentenced President Donald Trump’s former campaign aide George Papadopoulos to 14 days in prison for lying to the FBI during its investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election. Papadopoulos pleaded guilty in October 2017 to lying to FBI agents about the timing and significance of his contacts with Russians, including a professor who told him the Russians had “dirt” on Trump’s Democratic presidential rival Hillary Clinton.

Background on the likely sting operation against Papadopoulos.</s>Donald Trump’s former campaign adviser George Papadopoulos has been sentenced to 14 days in prison for lying to the FBI.

Donald Trump’s former campaign adviser George Papadopoulos has been sentenced to 14 days in prison for lying to the FBI.

Trump’s former adviser George Papadopoulos sentenced to 14 days in jail

The sentence was imposed in federal court in Washington.

Papadopoulos is the first former campaign aide to be sentenced in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.

He apologised for his actions, telling a judge that he had made a “dreadful mistake” and was eager for redemption.

Prosecutors sought a sentence of up to six months, while defence lawyers asked for probation.

His case was the first to detail a member of the Trump campaign having knowledge of Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 US presidential election while it was ongoing.</s>WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – George Papadopoulos, a former aide to then-Republican candidate Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign, was sentenced on Friday to 14 days in prison after pleading guilty last year to lying to federal agents investigating whether campaign members coordinated with Russia before the election.

Prosecutors for Special Counsel Robert Mueller said Papadopoulos lied to agents about his contacts with Russians during the campaign “to minimize both his own role as a witness and the extent of the campaign’s knowledge of his contacts,” according to the government’s sentencing memorandum.

Among those contacts were London-based professor Joseph Mifsud, who told him the Russians had “dirt” on Trump’s Democratic presidential rival Hillary Clinton in the form of “thousands of emails.”

Russia has denied U.S. allegations that it interfered in the campaign and President Trump denies campaign collusion.</s>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Friday sentenced President Donald Trump's former campaign aide George Papadopoulos to 14 days in prison for lying to the FBI during its investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Papadopoulos pleaded guilty in October 2017 to lying to FBI agents about the timing and significance of his contacts with Russians, including a professor who told him the Russians had "dirt" on Trump's Democratic presidential rival Hillary Clinton.

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.</s>WASHINGTON — A federal judge sentenced George Papadopoulos, a onetime aide to President Donald Trump’s campaign, to two weeks in prison and a $9,500 fine on Friday for lying to federal agents about conversations in which he was told that the Russian government had obtained “dirt” on Hillary Clinton.

Papadopoulos is the first former Trump aide to be sentenced in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Moscow's interference in the 2016 election.

"I made a terrible mistake for which I paid dearly and I am terribly ashamed," Papadopoulos said at his sentencing hearing. "My entire life has been turned upside down."

Papadopoulos' lawyer Thomas Breen had asked for leniency for his client, saying, "The president of the United States hindered this investigation more than George Papadopoulos ever could."

Papadopoulos admitted last year that he lied to the FBI about interactions in which people he thought were linked to the Russian government described Moscow having “thousands of emails” with damaging information about Clinton. The exchanges came shortly after he joined Trump's campaign and months before U.S. authorities learned that Russian intelligence officers had stolen huge troves of emails from Democratic political organizations. When they came to light, they triggered the investigation that has loomed over the first two years of Trump’s presidency.

Prosecutors had told Judge Randolph Moss that Papadopoulos should spend up to six months in prison. His crime, they said in a court filing last month, “was serious and caused damage to the government’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.”

The judge had been considering a 30-day prison sentence but said at Friday's hearing that Papadopoulos had shown "genuine remorse."

The charges centered on a January 2017 interview in which FBI agents asked Papadopoulos about his conversations with Joseph Misfud, a professor he believed had connections to Moscow. Papadopoulos told the agents, falsely, that his conversations with Misfud happened before he joined Trump’s campaign in March 2016, and that he did not think they were important. Prosecutors said in a court filing that Papadopoulos’ “lies negatively affected the FBI’s Russia investigation, and prevented the FBI from effectively identifying and confronting witnesses in a timely fashion.”

Partly as a result, they said, agents were unable to “effectively question” Misfud when he visited the United States two weeks later. “The defendant’s lies undermined investigators’ ability to challenge the Professor or potentially detain or arrest him while he was still in the United States,” they wrote.

Papadopoulos’ lawyers had urged Moss to sentence him to probation. In a court filing last month, they described Papadopoulos as “ashamed and remorseful” but said he never derailed the Russia investigation. Instead, they said, Papadopoulos “misled investigators to save his professional aspirations and preserve a perhaps misguided loyalty to his master.”

Papadopoulos has been a central figure in the Russia investigation since it began. The FBI launched its investigation of possible links between Russia and the Trump campaign after learning that Papadopoulos had boasted to an Australian diplomat that the Russian government had political dirt on Clinton more than a month before Moscow’s hacking efforts were known publicly.

For a time, Papadopoulos also looked to be a key informant. A federal court kept his July 2017 arrest secret for more than two months after Mueller’s office argued that making it public would “significantly undermine his ability to serve as a proactive cooperator.”

But in a court filing last month, prosecutors said Papadopoulos ultimately did little to aid their work. Instead, they said, Papadopoulos gave them little valuable information, and did so “only after the government confronted him with his own emails, text messages, internet search history.”

Two other Trump aides – former deputy campaign chairman Rick Gates and former national security advisor Mike Flynn – also pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with Mueller’s investigation but haven’t been sentenced. Another, former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, was found guilty of tax and bank fraud charges last month and is awaiting another trial in Washington.</s>A federal judge sentenced George Papadopoulos, who served as a forign policy adviser to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, to 14 days in prison on Friday.

The sentence makes Papadopoulos, who pleaded guilty last year to lying to FBI agents about his contacts with individuals linked to the Russian government, the first Trump associate sentenced as a result of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into alleged Trump campaign coordination with Russia in 2016

Papadopolous has admitted that he misled FBI agents by downplaying his interactions with Joseph Mifsud, a London-based professor suspected of acting as a Russian agent and with a woman who Mifsud falsely told Papadopoulos was Russian President Vladimir Putin’s niece. According to prosecutors, Mifsud told Papadopoulos in March 2016 that the Russians possessed “dirt” on Hillary Clinton that included “thousands of emails.”

Papadopoulos tried to use his contacts with Mifsud and Russians the academic put him in touch with to set up a meeting between Trump and Vladimir Putin, an effort he pursued for months. In a memo submitted to the court earlier this month, his lawyers claimed that Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who was a top foreign policy advisor to Trump, encouraged Papadopoulos’ outreach to his Russian contacts. That claim contradicts Sessions’ assertions that he opposed the aide’s plan.

Prosecutors in Mueller’s office have said that by lying to agents, Papadopoulos “undermined investigators’ ability to challenge the professor or potentially detain or arrest him while he was still in the United States.” And they argued that Papadopoulos did not provide them with significant assistance and only told the truth after they confronted him with evidence contradicting his claims.

Appearing in court on Friday, Papadopoulus acknowledged that he may have impeded the probe. “I was not honest, and I might have hindered the investigation,” he said. But his lawyer, Thomas Breen, faulted Trump for stymying the ongoing inquiry. “The president of the United States hindered the investigation more than George Papadopolous ever could,” he said.
George Papadopoulos, former 2016 presidential campaign aide to Donald Trump, receives a prison sentence of 14 days for lying to investigators regarding his ties to Russian contacts. He also receives a fine, probation and a community service obligation.