Special Counsel says non-incarceration sentence for Michael Flynn is "is appropriate and warranted"

As reported in this Politico article, headlined "Mueller: Flynn gave ‘substantial assistance’ to probe, recommends little to no prison," the Special Counsel tonight submitted a memorandum in aid of sentencing defendant Michael Flynn. Here are the basics:

Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, provided “substantial assistance” to the ongoing investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election and should be sentenced to little if any prison time for making two “series of false statements” to the FBI, special counsel Robert Mueller's team recommended in a court filing on Tuesday.

Flynn participated in 19 interviews with the special counsel and other Justice Department prosecutors and aided multiple investigations, Mueller’s prosecutors said in a heavily redacted filing that offered limited insight into the information Flynn provided.

“The defendant deserves credit for accepting responsibility in a timely fashion and substantially assisting the government,” Mueller’s team wrote in a seven-page memo. MO “The defendant provided firsthand information about the content and context of interactions between the transition team and the Russian government,” prosecutors add later. “Additionally, the defendant’s decision to plead guilty and cooperate likely affected the decisions of related firsthand witnesses to be forthcoming with the [special counsel] and cooperate,” they write.

U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan, a Bill Clinton appointee, is scheduled to sentence Flynn on Dec. 18. Before that, Flynn’s lawyers have their own Dec. 11 deadline to file a memo describing his cooperation and outlining whatever other factors they think the judge should consider in handing down the sentence.

The full filing is available at this link, and it begins this way:

The United States of America, by and through Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller, III, respectfully submits this memorandum in aid of sentencing defendant Michael T. Flynn.  On December 1, 2017, the defendant pleaded guilty to one count of making materially false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001(a).  As calculated by the United States Probation Office, the defendant’s applicable Total Offense Level is 4, Criminal History Category I, resulting in an advisory guideline range of 0-6 months.  That offense level and guideline range, however, do not account for a downward departure pursuant to Section 5K1.1 of the United States Sentencing Guidelines reflecting the defendant’s substantial assistance to the government, which the government has moved for contemporaneously.  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.

Via Law http://www.rssmix.com/