Michael Cohen, a longtime personal lawyer to Donald Trump, pleaded guilty to federal charges of tax evasion and campaign finance violations, saying he had arranged payments at the direction of the now-US president to influence the 2016 election.
The plea was announced during a hearing in Manhattan federal court on Tuesday. The US attorney’s office in Manhattan had been investigating Cohen for several months. The charges against him included not paying taxes on more than $4m of income, making false statements to a financial institution, wilfully causing an unlawful corporate contribution and making an excessive campaign contribution.
His sentencing has been set for December 12 under a plea agreement with prosecutors, which calls for a sentence of between 46 and 63 months in prison. Bail was set at $500,000.