WASHINGTON (CN) - Former Trump foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos was sentenced to 14 days in prison on Friday for lying to investigators about his contacts with Russians during the 2016 election.
The probation office recommended a sentence of 30 days, but U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss opted for a shorter punishment after concluding that Papadopoulos was genuinely remorseful.
Citing the seriousness of the crime, however, Moss said he could not justify letting Papadopoulos off with probation.
"I made a terrible mistake for which I have paid dearly," Papadopoulos said in a statement to the court during the 90-minute hearing.
Belying his relaxed facade, Papadopoulos shared that he is struggling with depression for having disappointed his family and his friends.
Though special counsel Robert Mueller's team reached a cooperation deal with Papadopoulos as part of his guilty plea in October 2017, they disclosed earlier this month that the 31-year-old’s cooperation has been minimal and that his dishonesty harmed the investigation.
"He didn't come close to the standard of substantial assistance," prosecutor Andrew Goldstein said in court Friday afternoon.
Indeed most of the information Papadopoulos gave Mueller's team was delivered only after they confronted him with a trail of his emails, text messages and internet search history, prosecutors said.
"It was at best begrudging efforts to cooperate," Goldstein noted during the sentencing hearing.
Papadopoulos' attorney Robert Stanley with Breen & Pugh did not deny that his client's offense of lying to FBI agents was serious, but pushed back against the government's claim that he intended to undermine or harm the investigation.
In an Aug. 31 sentencing memo, Stanley said Papadopoulos cooperated fully with the investigation and acquiesced to the government's three requests to delay his sentencing "as a courtesy."
In court Friday, defense attorney Thomas Breen called his client's conduct "a stupid mistake," and described him as "naive," “unsophisticated” and "a fool.”
Breen tried to persuade Moss that his client has already suffered in the court of public opinion, saying "he's taken his pounding."
"I don't know what his life is going to be like after this," Breen said. "He certainly won't be put on any high-ranking committees.”
Prosecutors took no position on an appropriate sentence last month but recommended a sentence of 0 to 6 months. Papadopoulos meanwhile had argued that probation is a more appropriate sentence and that jailing him "would create an unwarranted sentencing disparity."
The former Trump campaign adviser landed in legal hot water after lying to federal investigators about contacts he had with Russians during the 2016 presidential campaign. These contacts included London-based professor Joseph Mifsud, who claimed to have connections to the Kremlin, and a woman named Olga claiming to be related to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The pair told Papadopoulos they could help arrange a meeting for the Trump campaign with Russian government officials.
During their final meeting, Mifsud told Papadopoulos that Kremlin operatives had "dirt" on Trump's Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, including thousands of emails.
Papadopoulos' sentencing memo downplays the significance of this revelation.
"Not knowing what to make of this comment, George continued his efforts to make the Trump – Russia meeting a reality,” the memo states. “As he expressed in an email to Professor Mifsud, George believed that the meeting would be 'history making.’"