First Trial For Paul Manafort Set To Begin July 10th

CNN reports:

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort has entered a plea of not guilty to charges of bank fraud and tax crimes in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia. Judge TS Ellis set the trial to begin July 10. Prosecutors told said in court they planned to call 20-25 witnesses and said their arguments could last up to two weeks. This will be the first of two trials for Manafort this year. A trial on federal charges in Washington, DC, is scheduled to begin in September.

His 18 criminal charges in Virginia federal court — which total more than the five he faces in Washington and carry a much heavier potential prison sentence — accuse him of bank fraud and lying on income tax returns and regarding his foreign bank accounts. In the DC charges alone, Manafort faces a likely sentence of more than 15 years to almost 20 years in prison if found guilty. He faces a maximum of 305 years in prison if found guilty on all charges in Virginia.