All the Trump associates who have gone to prison

Peter Navarro is just the latest in a growing list of the former president’s cronies to end up behind bars

Peter Navarro, a former trade adviser to Donald Trump, surrendered to authorities on 19 March to begin a four-month sentence at a prison near Miami, Florida, after he was convicted on two counts of criminal contempt of Congress.

Less than 24 hours earlier, the US Supreme Court had denied his last-ditch attempt to stay his sentence pending an appeal against his conviction.

The former Mr Trump aide was convicted in September over his refusal to comply with two subpoenas from the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 Capitol riot – one asking him to provide documents related to the former president’s efforts to stay in power after losing the 2020 election, the other to testify at its hearings.

Prior to entering the facility, Navarro, 74, delivered a brief press conference in a parking lot in which he attempted to portray himself as a martyr to Democrat-led persecution in grandiose terms and, like Mr Trump, baselessly bemoaned “the partisan weaponisation of our judicial system”.

Navarro is the first member of Mr Trump’s inner circle to see the inside of a jail cell in connection to the Capitol riot but is only the latest to hit the rocks by association with his political brand.

Few who involve themselves with Mr Trump seem to come out of it enriched by the experience and some – notably his one-time personal attorney Rudy Giuliani – find themselves facing disgrace or financial hardship.

Many former members of Mr Trump’s administration between 2017 and 2021 have since turned against him and refused to endorse his latest presidential run, often leading to them being ostracised from the MAGA movement and re-emerging as outspoken critics of his conduct.

But only a handful have actually ended up behind bars.

Navarro aside, here’s a look at the other former Trump associates who have done time over their involvement with the former president.

George Papadopoulos

George Papadopoulos (Getty)

A former member of the foreign policy advisory panel to Mr Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, Papadopoulos, 36, pleaded guilty in October 2017 to a felony charge of making false statements to FBI agents concerning his overseas contacts with individuals tied to Russia.

The charges came following special counsel Robert Mueller‘s investigation into the Trump campaign’s alleged ties to Kremlin-led election interference.

He was sentenced to 12 days in prison in 2018, plus 200 hours of community service and a $9,500 fine.

He struck a defiant note before reporting for federal incarceration in Oxford, Wisconsin, in December that year, tweeting the night before: “The truth will all be out. Not even a prison sentence can stop that momentum. The wool isn’t going to be pulled over America’s eyes forever. Much love.”

He has since published a book about his ordeal entitled Deep State Target (2019), ran unsuccessfully to replace US Rep Katie Hill in California’s 25th congressional district in March 2020 and was pardoned by then-president Trump later that year.

Paul Manafort

Paul Manafort (AP)

The veteran political consultant, 74, who had previously advised Republican presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush, chaired the Trump presidential campaign from June to August 2016.

He was indicted in October 2017 on multiple charges related to the concealment of millions of dollars he had made from lobbying for pro-Russian politicians, including the former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych in 2014.

Additional charges of obstruction of justice and witness tampering were added in June 2018, which were alleged to have occurred while he was under house arrest.

In August that year, Manafort went on trial in Virginia and was ultimately convicted of eight charges of tax and bank fraud.

Another trial in Washington DC saw him plead guilty to two charges of conspiracy to defraud the US and witness tampering in a plea deal with prosecutors, only for that to be ruled void when special counsel Mueller reported that he had repeatedly lied to his federal agents.

In March 2019, Manafort was sentenced to 47 months in prison, with a further 43 months tacked on six days later.

A bipartisan Senate committee subsequently branded him a “grave counterintelligence threat” and a potential channel for covert Russian influence. He was pardoned by Mr Trump in the dying days of his presidency – along with the likes of Michael Flynn, Roger Stone, Steve Bannon and Elliott Broidy – and is now being linked with a return to the fold in 2024.

Rick Gates

Rick Gates (AFP/Getty)

Manafort’s former business partner, 51, who was also deputy chairman of Mr Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, pleaded guilty in February 2018 to conspiracy and lying to investigators when questioned as part of the Russia probe.

Gates testified as a prosecution witness in Manafort’s trial and was sentenced in December 2019 to 45 days in jail, 300 hours of community service and ordered to pay a $20,000 fine.

“I greatly regret the mistakes I have made,” he said before being sentenced.

The following April he was granted a request to complete his sentence from home on compassionate grounds after his wife was taken ill with Covid-19.

Michael Cohen

Michael Cohen (Reuters)

Mr Trump’s long-term personal lawyer and fixer, 57, who worked for the property tycoon from 2006 to 2018 before leaving after Mr Mueller’s investigation into Russian election interference began.

After being interviewed by investigators, Cohen pleaded guilty to eight counts in August 2018, including campaign finance violations, tax fraud and bank fraud.

Cohen said the campaign finance violation, which had seen him pay hush money on Mr Trump’s behalf to two women – adult film star Stormy Daniels and ex-Playboy model Karen McDougal – to silence them over alleged extramarital affairs with the then-presidential candidate, had been carried out at Mr Trump’s direction “for the principal purpose of influencing” the 2016 election vote.

In November 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty to lying to US congressional committees about his former employer’s interest in building a new Trump Tower in Moscow.

He was duly sentenced to three years in federal prison, ordered to pay a $50,000 fine and disbarred from practicing law in New York.

Cohen reported to prison near Otisville, New York, in May 2019 and left after completing his sentence in November 2021.

He has since been engaged in a bitter legal dispute with Mr Trump over unpaid fees and could now testify against him, alongside Ms Daniels and Ms McDougal, in the former president’s criminal trial in New York.

Allen Weisselberg

Donald Trump and Allen Weisselberg (AP)

The former chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, 76, who was first hired by Mr Trump’s father Fred Trump as an accountant in 1973, was convicted in 2022 on 15 violations of New York tax law, after prosecutors accused him of participating in a years-long “systemic” fraud scheme.

The case involved a “sweeping and audacious illegal payment” arrangement in which Trump companies paid him generous benefits – including free rent, luxury car leases and private school tuition for his grandchildren – that were not reported for tax purposes.

Weisselberg was sentenced to five months in prison for that offence and spent around 100 days in Rikers Island jail from January to April 2023 before he was released under supervision.

He has since pleaded guilty to perjury charges over testimony given to investigators reporting Alvin Bragg and to New York Attorney General Letitia James examining the Trump Organization’s finances.

Weisselberg appeared at Manhattan Criminal Court earlier this month and was charged with five counts of perjury in the first degree, with the judge accepting a plea deal he had agreed with Manhattan prosecutors that saw him plead guilty to two of those five counts.

He will be sentenced to five months in jail under the terms of the plea deal, which is scheduled to take place on 10 April.