Michael Cohen sentenced to prison

Michael Cohen, a former lawyer for President Trump, was sentenced to three years in prison on Wednesday. Cohen gave an emotional apology to the court for his involvement in a hush-money scandal— a scheme to buy the silence of two women who said they had affairs with President Trump to protect his chances before the 2016 election. Cohen said his loyalty to Donald Trump led him to ignore “my own inner voice and my moral compass.” The sentencing took place in federal court in Manhattan, New York. Michael Cohen’s crimes were breaking campaign finance laws, tax evasion and lying to Congress. Federal agents raided Cohen’s office and home in April, and he later turned on President Trump, making the remarkable admission in court that Donald Trump had directed him to arrange the payments “for the principal purpose of influencing the election” in 2016. The president at first denied knowing anything about the payments, but then acknowledged it later. This week, he insisted that the payments were “a simple private transaction” — not election-related spending subject to campaign-finance laws. Cohen’s lawyers argued he should not serve time in prison. Federal prosecutors in said he deserved around four years. The judge had the final say. In the end, the judge gave Michael Cohen three years for the crimes he committed in New York and two months for lying to Congress, to be served at the same time. He was also asked to pay nearly $2 million. The judge ordered him to begin serving his sentence on March 6.

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