Trump friend and ex-advisor Roger Stone sentenced to 40 months in prison

Text by: RFI Follow

Donald Trump's former adviser and long-time friend Roger Stone was sentenced to 40 months in prison by a Washington federal judge for being convicted last November of 7 charges. Prosecutors initially required 7 to 9 years, but in the meantime, Donald Trump intervened in the case, triggering a heated controversy.

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With our correspondent in San Francisco , Eric de Salve

Despite the controversy, Donald Trump did not wait more than an hour to denounce the conviction of his sulphurous traveling companion and accuse the court of bias, leaving the possibility of a pardon for Roger Stone .

" In my opinion, Roger has a very good chance of being cleared. I am convinced that the 4 women on the jury and the judge in charge of the jury were completely biased. She was an anti-Trump activist! You realize ?! "

40 months in prison, a sentence however well below the 7 to 9 years required last week by prosecutors. But on Twitter Donald Trump called this indictment "a judicial error ". The following day, his Ministry of Justice considered the recommendation excessive and asked the justice for a reduced sentence of 3 to 4 years. The maneuver caused an uproar : withdrawal of disavowed prosecutors from the file, open letter from 2,000 former justice officials denouncing favorable treatment and a Minister of Justice under orders ...

A minister who, this week, asked the president not to tweet about his files threatening to resign. " I can't do my job anymore, " says William Barr .

Roger Stone was convicted in November of lying to Congress about his contacts with Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, in the case of the Democratic Party’s hacked emails during the 2016 presidential election. He was also convicted of obstruction of justice and subordination of witnesses.

On leaving the court free, this specialist, who was accused of political twists, was visibly confident, all smiles in a three-piece suit and borsalino hat.

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• Donald trump
• Justice
• United States

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