The four (now former) prosecutors in Roger Stone’s criminal case reportedly weren’t told directly that the Justice Department would be watering down their recommended prison sentence of seven to nine years on Tuesday.
The New York Times reported that the four prosecutors, Aaron Zelinsky, Adam Jed, Jonathan Kravis and Michael Marando, found out about the DOJ’s shocking decision only after hearing about it on Fox News.
The prosecutors withdrew from Stone’s case when news of the sentence reversal emerged. One of them, Assistant U.S. attorney Jonathan Kravis, resigned from the Justice Department entirely.
The DOJ’s new filing for a more lenient sentencing did not specify exactly what sentence Stone ought to receive, arguing only that the original recommendation was “excessive and unwarranted.”
The filing came after President Donald Trump complained that seven to nine years was too harsh for Stone, who was Trump’s adviser before he was charged with obstruction and witness tampering in Robert Mueller’s Russia probe.
Trump denied pressuring the department into walking back the proposed sentence, but he congratulated Attorney General Bill Barr for “taking charge” of Stone’s case.
