Political consultant who steered Ukrainian politician’s money to Trump gets probation

Sam Patten, a lobbyist who admitted to using $50,000 from a pro-Russia Ukrainian politician to get the Ukrainian tickets to President Trump's inauguration, was sentenced to three years probation on Friday.

Patten was investigated as part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe based on his extensive work with Konstantin Kilimnik, the aide to Paul Manafort charged by Mueller. In August, Patten pleaded guilty to working as an unregistered foreign agent, saying he bought the Trump tickets with the Ukrainian's money even though presidential inaugural committees can't accept foreign donations. Yet he also agreed to cooperate with Mueller — something U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson cited when giving Patten a lighter sentence Friday.

Patten first met Kilimnik while working for a GOP-linked advocacy group in Russia and eventually founded a lobbying group with Kilimnik. Kilimnik has yet to go to trial for his charges, but Manafort, Trump's former campaign chair, has been sentenced to prison time by Jackson, the same judge who sentenced Patten on Friday. Jackson said Friday that Manafort's post-plea deal conduct was "more egregious" than Patten's, which is why she granted Patten's request for leniency.

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Patten was fined $5,000 and will have to complete 500 hours of "hands-on" community service, along with three years of probation.