Tuesday, April 3, 2018 – Alex van der Zwaan sentencing
This date comes from a CNN article. And you may want to check out the article if you’re not familiar with where van der Zwaan fits in the Trump-Russia scandal.
Set your DVR – this will be the first sentencing of the Trump-Russia scandal so I have a feeling it will be a true media circus with “satellite dish vans” circling the court house. Undoubtedly, van der Zwaan will try to slip in unnoticed, but he’s going to have to dodge a mob of camera crews trying to record his “perp walk.” And he will also try to slip out – that is, if he is allowed to slip out. There’s a good chance he will go directly to jail without passing go.
Van der Zwaan’s charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, but he qualifies for a recommended sentence of zero to six months. He can also be fined up to a $250,000. This guy and his family are über rich so a fine will mean nothing – that’s why Mueller has called for jail time.
If van der Zwaan does serve time, I’ll wager it won’t be more than a month or two. The reason I say this is that, although Mueller argued for jail time in the sentencing memo he filed, he also closed the memo with this line: “In any event, a sentence that ensured van der Zwaan’s return to the United Kingdom for the birth of his child in August 2018 would be within the recommended Guidelines’ range.” In other words, Mueller is telegraphing to the judge that it would OK with him if van der Zwaan served a sentence that ended in July. It would be unusual for the judge to impose a stricter sentence than what the prosecution is “signaling,” but it’s still possible. It’s also possible that, if the judge is feeling lenient, she may let van der Zwaan walk. Or… could there be a Trump pardon in van der Zwaan’s future?