An appeals court granted former Trump campaign aide Roger Stone’s request to dismiss an appeal to his conviction, ending a lengthy court battle that began when he was swept up in the Russia investigation.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit approved a request made by Stone to dismiss his appeal of a criminal conviction after President Trump fully commuted his sentence last month, preventing him from being required to report to prison.
“Upon consideration of appellant’s unopposed motion to dismiss this appeal and the affidavit in support thereof, it is ORDERED that the motion be granted and this case dismissed,” the court document read.
NEW: The US Court of Appeals DC Circuit has accepted Roger Stone’s request to dismiss his appeal of his conviction. Stone earlier this week filed a motion & affidavit w/ the DC Circuit saying he no longer wanted to appeal. Trump already commuted Stone’s 3+ year prison sentence. pic.twitter.com/AQmis3AyOV
— Darren Samuelsohn (@dsamuelsohn) August 19, 2020
Stone was arrested in January 2019 and went on trial that November after being swept up in Mueller’s investigation. He was found guilty on five separate counts of lying to the House Intelligence Committee during its investigation into Russian interference about his alleged outreach to WikiLeaks, one count that he “corruptly obstructed” the congressional investigation, and one count that he attempted to intimidate a possible congressional witness, radio host Randy Credico.
After his conviction and sentencing, more of Stone’s mentions in Mueller’s report have been declassified.
In February, the Justice Department recommended a prison sentence of up to nine years for Stone but later revised its recommendation and advised a lower sentence.
The self-described “dirty trickster” was sentenced by Judge Amy Berman Jackson, an Obama appointee, to 40 months for obstruction of justice and 12 months for the other five counts to be served concurrently. He also received a $20,000 fine and two years of supervised release. Stone called it a “death sentence” given his age, 67, and health amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Before Stone’s sentence was fully commuted, he was ordered to report to prison in mid-July. Trump’s act of clemency resolved the matter in Stone’s favor but has since drawn ire from Democrats.
