WASHINGTON, Dec 5: US special counsel Robert Mueller’s team on Tuesday recommended no jail time for former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, citing his “substantial assistance” in the Russia probe.
“Given the defendant’s substantial assistance and other considerations set forth below, a sentence at the low end of the guideline range — including a sentence that does not impose a term of incarceration — is appropriate and warranted,” said the sentencing memo filed by the Mueller team.
The Mueller team previously filed a document saying that the sentencing guidelines for Flynn’s offense suggest zero to six months. “The defendant provided firsthand information about the content and context of interactions between the transition team and Russian government officials,” the memo noted.
A sentence that includes no prison time for Flynn, who has met with Mueller’s team for 19 times, is “appropriate and warranted,” local media quoted the heavily-redacted memo as saying. However, the memo said Flynn’s offense is serious, accusing that Flynn “made multiple false statements, to multiple Department of Justice (DOJ) entities, on multiple occasions.”
Flynn, a retired three-star general, was forced to resign on Feb 13, 2017 for misleading Vice President Mike Pence and other officials about his contacts with then Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the Presidential transition.
Flynn pleaded guilty in December 2017 to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russia. He was scheduled to be sentenced in the US District Court for the District of Columbia on Dec 18. He is so far the only member of the Trump administration to plead guilty during Mueller’s probe into the alleged Russia meddling in the 2016 US presidential elections. The Russian government has denied the allegation. Trump has repeatedly denied colluding with Russia, calling the Mueller probe a “witch hunt.”
(AGENCIES)
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