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Roger Stone: Convicted of Seven Felonies, Sentence Commuted, Then Pardoned

Stone was charged with lying to the House Intelligence Committee about his contacts with WikiLeaks during the 2016 campaign, when he served as an intermediary between the Trump campaign and WikiLeaks regarding the release of hacked Democratic emails. He also threatened a witness — radio personality Randy Credico, whom he called a 'rat' and threatened to harm his therapy dog — to prevent him from contradicting Stone's testimony. The jury of twelve convicted Stone on every count after deliberating for two days. Four prosecutors resigned from the case after the Justice Department overrode their sentencing recommendation of 7 to 9 years with a more lenient one, following Trump's tweet calling the original recommendation 'very unfair.' The federal judge sentenced Stone to 40 months.

Record summary

Grade

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Systematic actions that undermine fundamental constitutional or international legal protections at the structural level. Scale and definitions

Status
Concluded
Incident date
Record updated
Location
Washington, D.C. / Fort Lauderdale, FL
Category
Rule of Law
Legal posture
Judicial finding
War-crime classification
Enabling conduct
Verification
Independently verified
ICC relevance
No
Sources
4 cited
Stable ID
trump-first-term-roger-stone-conviction-pardon
Victims
U.S. rule of law; Randy Credico, who was threatened and intimidated to prevent his testimony; the integrity of congressional investigations; federal prosecutors whose sentencing recommendation was overridden following presidential Twitter pressure
Alleged responsible parties
  • Donald Trump, President; publicly criticized the career prosecutors' sentencing recommendation via tweet; DOJ overrode that recommendation the same day; commuted Stone's sentence July 2020 before Stone served any prison time; granted full pardon December 2020— White House
  • Roger Stone, Political consultant and informal Trump adviser; lied seven times to the House Intelligence Committee; threatened witness Randy Credico; convicted unanimously by jury on all seven felony counts— Stone Cold Truth LLC / private

Key points

  • Stone was arrested in a pre-dawn FBI raid at his Fort Lauderdale home on January 25, 2019; CNN had been tipped to be present and captured the arrest on camera; Stone was charged with seven counts: obstruction of an official proceeding, five counts of making false statements to Congress, and one count of witness tampering
  • The charges arose from Stone's role as an informal intermediary between the Trump campaign and WikiLeaks during the 2016 campaign; Stone communicated about the timing and content of WikiLeaks releases of hacked Democratic emails; he lied to the House Intelligence Committee about these contacts and the identity of his WikiLeaks intermediary
  • Stone threatened Randy Credico — a radio host who had connected Stone with Julian Assange — to prevent him from correcting Stone's false congressional testimony; Stone told Credico to 'prepare to die,' threatened to steal his therapy dog, and called him a 'rat'; these communications formed the basis of the witness tampering count
  • Career prosecutors initially recommended a sentence of 7 to 9 years, consistent with federal sentencing guidelines; Trump tweeted the recommendation was 'very unfair' and 'horrible and very unfair' on February 11, 2020; the same day, DOJ leadership overrode the career prosecutors and filed a new recommendation for a lesser sentence; all four career prosecutors resigned from the case in protest
  • Judge Amy Berman Jackson sentenced Stone to 40 months; she rejected Stone's arguments about the fairness of the prosecution and stated the jury had unanimously found him guilty on every count after hearing all the evidence; she denied the subsequent motion for a new trial that alleged juror bias
  • Trump commuted Stone's sentence on July 10, 2020, days before Stone was required to report to prison; Trump granted a full pardon on December 23, 2020; Stone had been a political associate of Trump's since the 1980s and has a tattoo of Richard Nixon on his back

Overview

Stone was convicted by a unanimous jury on seven felony counts: lying to Congress seven times about his contacts with WikiLeaks during the 2016 campaign, tampering with a witness, and obstruction. Trump tweeted that the sentencing recommendation was unfair. The Department of Justice overrode its own career prosecutors the same day — all four resigned. Trump commuted the sentence before Stone served a day in prison, then pardoned him fully five months later.

The Lies

Stone testified before the House Intelligence Committee about his contacts with WikiLeaks and the role he played as an informal intermediary between the Trump campaign and the release of hacked Democratic emails. He lied about which person had served as his backchannel to WikiLeaks. He lied about having documents. He lied about his communications with the Trump campaign regarding WikiLeaks. He lied seven times.

He also tried to prevent the truth from coming out. Randy Credico, the radio host who had connected Stone to Julian Assange, could correct the record. Stone threatened him: told him to prepare to die, threatened his therapy dog, called him a rat. The jury found this constituted witness tampering.

The Sentencing Intervention

Career prosecutors spent months building the case. When they submitted their sentencing recommendation — 7 to 9 years, consistent with federal guidelines for the conduct — Trump tweeted that it was very unfair and horrible.

The same day Trump tweeted, DOJ leadership filed a new sentencing recommendation for a lesser sentence. Four career prosecutors resigned from the case in protest rather than put their names on the revised filing. Attorney General Barr acknowledged publicly that Trump's tweet had made his job harder — while denying Trump had directed the change.

The sequence — tweet, same-day override, mass resignation — made the intervention obvious in a way that the government did not successfully explain away.

The Pardon

Stone served no prison time. The commutation came days before he was due to report. The pardon followed five months later. Stone and Trump had known each other since the 1980s. Stone has a Richard Nixon tattoo on his back.

The pardon erased the convictions from the record. It did not change what the jury found.

Update log

  1. Updated with December 2020 full pardon.

Sequence of events

  1. Stone arrested in pre-dawn FBI raid — seven felony charges

    FBI agents arrest Stone at his Fort Lauderdale home in a pre-dawn raid. CNN is present, having been tipped. Stone is charged with obstruction, five counts of false statements to Congress, and one count of witness tampering related to his role as an intermediary between the Trump campaign and WikiLeaks.

  2. Jury convicts Stone unanimously on all seven counts

    After two days of deliberation, a jury of twelve unanimously convicts Stone on all seven felony counts. Stone is one of several people in Trump's orbit convicted by juries or who pleaded guilty to federal crimes arising from the Mueller investigation.

  3. Trump tweets criticism of sentencing recommendation — prosecutors resign

    Career prosecutors recommend 7 to 9 years consistent with guidelines. Trump tweets the recommendation is 'very unfair.' The same day, DOJ leadership files a new, more lenient recommendation. All four career prosecutors resign from the case in protest. Attorney General Barr denies Trump directed the change but acknowledges Trump's tweet made his job harder.

  4. Judge sentences Stone to 40 months

    Judge Amy Berman Jackson sentences Stone to 40 months in prison. She rejects arguments about prosecutorial unfairness. Stone says he will appeal. The judge later denies his motion for a new trial.

  5. Trump commutes Stone sentence — Stone does not report to prison

    Trump commutes Stone's sentence days before Stone was required to report to prison. Stone serves no prison time. Trump says Stone was treated unfairly by the justice system.

  6. Trump grants Stone a full pardon

    Trump grants Stone a full pardon on December 23, 2020, less than a month before leaving office. The pardon wipes Stone's convictions. Stone publicly praises Trump.

Sources

  1. Roger Stone Sentencing: Prosecutors Quit After Justice Dept. Overrides Their Recommendation — The New York Times
  2. Roger Stone convicted on all seven counts — The Washington Post
  3. Trump commutes sentence of Roger Stone, longtime friend and ally — The Associated Press
  4. Mueller Report Volume I — Stone and WikiLeaks — U.S. Department of Justice / Special Counsel archived ✓

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