Court sentenced Roger Stone to over 3 years in prison
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Roger Stone was found guilty last year of lying to Congress and tampering the witnesses related to the presidential elections of 2016. He is a longtime political strategist and a close friend of Donald Trump, the president of the United States. The court has sentenced Stone on Thursday to 40 months in prison. He was also ordered by the court to pay $20000 fine.
According to the court documents, Stone was also ordered by the court to complete 250 hours of community service and serve two years’ probation. The public reactions of Trump about the case created a lot of controversy in the Justice Department of the US. Trump stood for his friend and asked for a lighter sentence.
The prosecutors, in this case, suggested a sentence between seven to nine years for Stone earlier this month. Trump tweeted after hearing this suggestion in which he wrote that it would be a miscarriage of justice. He demanded a lesser sentence for Stone in his tweet. The Justice Department amended its recommendation after the tweet of Trump. The department called for a lesser sentence.
The criticism of Trump caused a controversy in the Justice Department as all four prosecutors of the Department resigned from the case after this criticism. Attorney General William Barr said that he would resign if Trump would not stop tweeting. According to Barr, the interference of President Trump in the Justice Department is unacceptable. However, the constitution of the US gives power to Trump to issue a pardon to Stone. Trump can also commute the sentence of Stone by using his constitutional power.
The media representatives asked Trump on Tuesday about pardoning Stone. Trump said, “I have not given it aby thought.” However, Trump said that Stone was treated unfairly by the Justice Department. Remember, Trump has issued clemency to 11 people last week including Rod Blagojevich, the former governor of Illinois.
