Donald Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen has been sentenced to three years in prison.
The 52-year-old was sentenced on Wednesday for his role in the payment of hush money to women who said they had affairs with Mr Trump.
Mr Cohen was also sentenced for lying to US Congress about a proposed Trump Tower project in Russia that was discussed during the 2016 election campaign.
US District Judge William H Pauley III said Cohen deserved a harsh punishment for crimes including tax evasion, lying to Congress and arranging illicit payments to silence women who posed a risk to Trump’s presidential campaign.
The judge rejected arguments by Cohen’s lawyers that he should be spared jail time because he cooperated in multiple federal investigations involving Trump.
Cohen said his “blind loyalty” to Trump made him feel a duty to “cover up” the president’s “dirty deeds.”
Cohen’s crimes included evading $1.4m in taxes and misleading Congress about his talks with Russians about a Trump skyscraper project in Moscow.
Trump had called for a tough sentence for Cohen, whom he labelled a liar.
Cohen had pleaded guilty in August to charges by federal prosecutors.
He faces sentencing on a separate charge of lying to Congress brought by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating possible coordination between Trump’s campaign and Russia.
Cohen pleaded guilty to that charge last month.
The sentencing by Mr Pauley in Manhattan caps the stunning about-face of a lawyer who once said he would “take a bullet” for Trump but has now directly implicated the president in criminal conduct.
