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Dec. 10 (UPI) -- Former Trump campaign adviser Rick Gates, one of the first figures to be indicted as part of the Justice Department's Russia investigation, will serve no prison time if the court adheres to recommendations from his attorneys and federal prosecutors. In a filing Tuesday, prosecutors recommended no incarceration for Gates because he provided "extraordinary assistance" in the investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller.
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Gates, who worked under campaign manager Paul Manafort, pleaded guilty in February 2018 to conspiring to hide proceeds from lucrative lobbying work and lying to the FBI about it. He cooperated with prosecutors in the department's review of other campaign aides.
"The government believes he has been entirely candid about his and others' criminality," Assistant U.S. Attorney Molly Gaston wrote in the filing. "His assistance has been substantial.
"Under exceedingly difficult circumstances and under intense public scrutiny, Gates has worked earnestly to provide the government with everything it has asked of him and has fulfilled all obligations under his plea agreement."
Gates' attorneys asked District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson in documents Monday for probation and community service.
Manafort is serving 7 and a half years in federal prison for financial fraud, and is still fighting charges in New York -- where he has pleaded not guilty to 16 felony fraud counts. His attorneys have filed a motion to dismiss the case, arguing it violates the federal "double jeopardy" law because of his conviction in federal court. The judge will rule on the issue Dec. 18.
