Manafort-Linked Lobbyist Gets 36 Months Probation

International political consultant W. Sam Patten was sentenced to 36 months probation, 500 hours of community service, and a $5,000 fine on Friday for failing to register as a foreign agent, after spending months cooperating with federal prosecutors.

Patten pleaded guilty in August 2018 to failing to register as a foreign agent of Ukraine, admitting in his plea that he helped steer $50,000 through a straw donor to the Trump inaugural committee to obtain tickets for his Ukrainian clients.

U.S. federal law prohibits foreign contributions to inaugural committees and political campaigns.

Special counsel Robert Mueller referred Patten’s case to D.C. federal prosecutors, who suggested that he should avoid incarceration due to his cooperation in a Monday sentencing memo.

Patten himself expressed contrition, reportedly telling Judge Amy Berman Jackson (who also sentenced Paul Manafort) that “I behaved as though the law didn’t apply to me, and that was wrong.”

Berman Jackson purportedly told Patten that “you’ve done everything in your power to make amends,” before giving him a sentence without jail time.

Though the details of Patten’s cooperation remain unknown, federal court filings suggest that he has provided information relevant to multiple ongoing criminal investigations.

Before his guilty plea, Patten had worked as a political consultant across the former Soviet Union, and formed a political consulting firm with Konstantin Kilimnik, who the U.S. government suspects is a Russian spy.

Patten’s Ukrainian clients included Serhiy Lyovochkin, a backer of a pro-Russian political party who spent years working closely with Manafort.