A federal judge denied a request that would’ve delayed the two-week prison sentence George Papadopoulos received after pleading guilty to lying to FBI officials. Judge Randolph Moss of the D.C. District Court instructed the former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser to report to prison on Monday.
In his opinion, Moss said he agreed with the special counsel’s opposition to the postponement request. Moss stressed that Papadopoulos’ deadline to appeal was Sept. 25 — not the week before he was due to surrender and start his imprisonment.
Papadopoulos, the judge argued, waived “any right to challenge [his] conviction … or sentence … or otherwise attempt to modify or change the sentence” as part of his plea agreement last year with the Office of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is leading a far-reaching probe into Russian interference in U.S. elections.
Papadopoulos and his wife reacted to the judge’s decision in a public conversation on Twitter. “I am there for you @GeorgePapa19. You don’t deserve to go to jail but you will come out stronger. The world will judge ultimately. Love u,” Simona Mangiante Papadopoulos wrote.
“This is why I will always be the luckiest guy in the world,” Papadopoulos responded.
Last week, Papadopoulos’ legal team tried to delay his imprisonment by citing a case currently in the D.C. Circuit Court concerning the constitutionality of the appointment of the special counsel. Mueller’s appointment was challenged by a court appeal filed by Andrew Miller, a onetime aide to longtime Trump associate Roger Stone who refused to appear before a grand jury in August.
Papadopoulos’ lawyers had argued in a court filing that the outcome of Miller’s appeal may “impact the validity of Mr. Papadopoulos’s prosecution and conviction.”
Moss, however, wrote that Papadopoulos “is not a party” to the case pending appeal and found that the former Trump campaign aide did not prove that he was owed “injunctive or other equitable relief.”
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