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Gates, who had initially pleaded not guilty to charges brought
by former Special Counsel Robert Mueller, reversed himself in
February 2018 and pleaded guilty to charges including conspiracy
against the United States and lying to investigators.
As part of his plea deal, Gates agreed to cooperate with
Mueller's investigation, which documented Russian interference
in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Gates faces a maximum
prison term of nearly six years when he is sentenced.
His testimony was an important part of the prosecution case last
year against Manafort, Trump's 2016 campaign chairman and Gates'
former business partner. Manafort's lawyers tore into Gates on
the witness stand, prompting him to admit to an extramarital
affair and having embezzled money. But Manafort was convicted by
a jury in federal court in Virginia of tax and bank fraud and is
now serving a prison sentence of 7-1/2 years.
He also appeared as a prosecution witness in federal court in
Washington against Stone, the longtime Trump adviser and veteran
Republican operative who was convicted by a jury on Friday on
seven counts of lying to the U.S. Congress, obstruction and
witness tampering. [nL2N27V0S8]
In pivotal testimony, Gates told jurors on Tuesday that he
witnessed a phone call between Trump and Stone related to the
WikiLeaks website in late July 2016.
In a court filing on Monday, prosecutors disclosed that the
testimony by Gates in the Stone trial would conclude his
cooperation with the government, and they asked a judge to set a
sentencing date.
Gates, a former political consultant and lobbyist, is one of
several former Trump aides to have pleaded guilty or been
convicted of charges brought by Mueller, who completed his
investigation in March. In addition to his senior role as a
campaign adviser, Gates also worked for Trump's presidential
inaugural committee before Trump took office in January 2017.
(Reporting by Jan Wolfe; Editing by Will Dunham)
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