Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team was one holdout juror away from winning a conviction against Paul Manafort on all 18 counts of bank and tax fraud, juror Paula Duncan told Fox News in an exclusive interview Wednesday.
“It was one person who kept the verdict from being guilty on all 18 counts,” Duncan, 52, said. She added that Mueller’s team of prosecutors often seemed bored, apparently catnapping during parts of the trial.
The identities of the jurors have been closely held, kept under seal by Judge T.S. Ellis III at Tuesday’s conclusion of the high-profile trial.
But Duncan gave a behind-the-scenes account to Fox News on Wednesday, after the jury returned a guilty verdict against the former Trump campaign chairman on eight financial crime counts and deadlocked on 10 others.
Duncan described herself as an avid supporter of President Trump, but said she was moved by four full boxes of exhibits provided by Mueller’s team – though she was skeptical about prosecutors’ motives in the financial crimes case. – READ MORE
[divider][/divider]Paul Manafort faces a maximum of 80 years in prison for his conviction Tuesday on eight charges of bank and tax fraud.
President Trump’s onetime campaign chairman was found guilty on five counts of filing false income tax returns, one count of failing to report foreign bank and financial accounts, and two counts of bank fraud.
Manafort faces a maximum of 15 years in prison for the tax fraud charges, a maximum of five years for the one charge of failing to report a foreign bank or financial account, and up to 60 years for the two bank fraud charges, which each carry a maximum sentence of up to 30 years.
Federal prosecutors said in a February court filing, however, that Manafort will likely only get eight to 10 years for the tax fraud charges, based on the federal sentencing guidelines, which are advisory. – READ MORE