NEW YORK — A state court judge in Manhattan dismissed Paul Manafort’s residential mortgage fraud case Wednesday, deciding the local charges against President Trump’s former campaign chairman amounted to a double-jeopardy violation.
Manafort, 70, who was previously convicted in a pair of federal cases related to special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation of election interference in 2016, was hospitalized in recent days and did not appear in court. He was sentenced in March to 7 1/2 years in prison and has been incarcerated at a federal facility in Pennsylvania.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Maxwell Wiley said state law prohibits the type of case brought by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in an effort to ensure Manafort would be held accountable and remain in custody should Trump move to issue a pardon for the federal convictions. With limited exceptions, the premise of double jeopardy prevents multiple prosecutions stemming from the same crimes.