Roger Stone quietly left his sentencing hearing Thursday with a smirk on his face as people screamed “lock him up” in his direction.
Stone, the longtime advisor to President Donald Trump who was convicted of lying to the FBI and witness tampering, was expected to speak after his sentencing. Instead, he silently got into a vehicle and left the scene. Stone was sentenced to three years and four months in prison by Judge Amy Berman Jackson.
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Stone’s sentencing hearing became a national controversy after the Justice Department initially recommended he serve seven to nine years in prison. In the wake of a Trump tweet critical of the recommendation, Attorney General William Barr caused an uproar by stepping in to change the sentencing guideline. Four prosecutors consequently withdrew from the case in protest.
The two prosecutors who stepped in to take over the case issued a new sentencing memo asking for “far less” time for Stone. But on Thursday, one of those prosecutors said the Justice Department stood by the original sentencing memo and argued that the court “impose a substantial period of incarceration” on Stone, a surprising development as the case came to a close.
But Judge Jackson, who has drawn the president’s ire at times, ultimately agreed with Barr — suggesting a lesser sentence than the Justice Department asked for in its initial memo.
Throughout the hearing, CNN reported that Stone’s stepdaughter and close friends watched anxiously, often covering their face or eyes while the courtroom deliberated. When the case was adjourned and Stone was sentenced, CNN reported that Justice Department lawyers could be heard praising Jackson for her handling of the case.
Along with the three year and four-month sentence, Stone will have to perform community service, undergo substance abuse testing and pay a $20,000 fine. Jackson is transferring supervision of his release to the Southern District of Florida, CNN reported.