Michael Flynn hoped cooperating would keep him out of prison. Here's why he may face five years.

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Source: Washington Post

Michael Flynn hoped cooperating would keep him out of prison. Here’s why he may face five years.

By Deanna Paul
December 19 at 5:45 AM

After Michael Flynn’s months of cooperation and more than a dozen meetings, special counsel Robert S. Mueller III argued this month that Flynn should receive no prison time for his substantial assistance in the Russia investigation.

A veteran judge saw things differently.

U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan upended the former national security adviser’s hopes of avoiding jail at the sentencing hearing Tuesday, assuring courtroom spectators that he — and only he — would be the final arbiter.

“I’m not hiding my disgust, my disdain for this criminal offense,” Sullivan said as he laid into Flynn, before opting to deviate from Mueller’s recommendation of no jail time.

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Lying to a federal agent carries a sentence of zero to six months in jail, but, Tolman said, if Sullivan believes Flynn’s actions were egregious, the statute permits him to send Flynn to prison for up to five years, the statutory maximum.

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Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/12/19/michael-flynn-hoped-cooperating-would-keep-him-out-prison-heres-why-he-may-face-five-years/