Paul Manafort was taken to a New York City courthouse in handcuffs Thursday for arraignment on state criminal charges, the latest arena of legal peril for the former chief of President Donald Trump’s 2016.
Clad in prison togs, the 70-year-old Manafort looked tired with his gray his hair long and mussed, as he entered the courthouse in lower Manhattan, according to images published by Big Apple tabloid newspapers.
Manafort was known before his convictions as a snazzy dresser who dropped tens of thousands of dollars on his wardrobe. During his trial last year, prosecutors introduced evidence about Manafort’s $15,000 ostrich jacket.
He was brought to New York from a federal prison in Pennsylvania, where he has been serving his combined seven-and-a-half-years federal prison term.
At his arraignment, due to start Thursday afternoon, Manafort plans to plead not guilty to felony charges of mortgage fraud, conspiracy and falsifying business records in New York state.
The charges were lodged by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. right after Manafort was sentenced the second time for federal charges.
A long-time Republican operative, Manafort was convicted last year at trial in Virginia federal court of bank fraud, tax fraud and failing to file a foreign bank account. He pleaded guilty soon afterward to charges of conspiracy in Washington, D.C., federal court.
