Eleven months after agreeing to cooperate with Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe, former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos was sentenced in federal court on Friday. He will serve 14 days in prison, submit to 12 months of supervised release and must pay a fine of $9,500.
Papadopoulos came under scrutiny after he confided to an Australian diplomat in May 2016 that Russia had “dirt” on Hillary Clinton in the form of “thousands of emails” — and an intermediary had offered to share them with the Trump campaign.
Papadopoulos’ admission, which the Australian government passed on to the F.B.I. after public reports that the Clinton campaign was hacked, triggered a federal investigation into the Trump campaign. When approached by FBI agents, Papadopoulos lied about circumstances under which he’d heard the Russian’s offer.
“I made a terrible mistake,” Papadopoulos told the judge on Friday. “I hope to have a second chance to redeem myself.”
Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI in October 2017; he has been cooperating with the Special Counsel. His wife, Simona Mangiante Papadopoulos was also interviewed by Robert Mueller.
