NEW YORK — Michael Cohen was sentenced Wednesday to three years in prison for tax and campaign finance violations and for lying to Congress.
Before sentencing, federal Judge William Pauley said: “each of these crimes is a serious offense against the United States.”
Cohen apologized and said he takes full responsibility for each criminal act, including those involving the President.
Cohen noted that blind loyalty to Trump led him to choose darkness over light. He told the judge that he felt a need to cover up Trump’s “dirty deeds.”
He pleaded guilty to tax fraud, banking fraud and violations of campaign finance laws. He also pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations involving hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels and another woman who claimed they had affairs with President Trump a decade ago.
Cohen also admitted to lying to Congress about plans to build a Trump Tower in Moscow.
The sentence is in connection with Robert Mueller’s election probe and a related case from Manhattan prosecutors.
(Photo by Yana Paskova / Stringer / Getty Images.)
