President Donald Trump’s former lawyer has been sentenced to three years in prison.
U.S. District Judge William H. Pauley III said Wednesday that Michael Cohen deserved a harsh punishment for crimes including tax evasion, lying to Congress and arranging illicit payments to silence women who posed a risk to Trump’s presidential campaign.
The judge rejected arguments by Cohen’s lawyers that he should be spared jail time because he cooperated in multiple federal investigations involving Trump.
READ MORE: Trump lawyer Michael Cohen met Russian, offering ‘political synergy,’ U.S. says
Cohen said his “blind loyalty” to Trump made him feel a duty to “cover up” the president’s “dirty deeds.”
Cohen’s crimes included evading $1.4 million in taxes and misleading Congress about his talks with Russians about a Trump skyscraper project in Moscow.
Trump had called for a tough sentence for Cohen, whom he labeled a liar.
More to come.
