Former Trump campaign boss in prison

The move by US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson made Manafort the first Trump campaign official to be jailed as part of a large investigation which is largely focussed on alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election, led by ex-FBI boss Robert Mueller.

Already under intense pressure to co-operate with prosecutors in hopes of securing leniency, Manafort now loses the relative freedom he enjoyed while he prepared for two criminal trials, in which he faces the possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison.

In issuing her ruling, Judge Jackson said she could not “turn a blind eye” to his conduct.

A federal grand jury indicted Manafort and a longtime associate Konstantin Kilimnik last week on charges of obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice, adding to the multiple felony counts he already faced.

The charges do not relate to his work on the Trump campaign or involve allegations of Russian election interference.

Prosecutors say 69-year-old Manafort and Kilimnik tried to get two witnesses to say that lobbying work which was carried out by clandestinely-paid former politicians only occurred in Europe – something the witnesses said they knew to be false. The distinction matters because unregistered foreign lobbying in the US is a crime, while lobbying in Europe is not.

Manafort’s lawyers have accused prosecutors of conjuring a “sinister plot” out of “innocuous” contacts.

Donald Trump tweeted: “Wow, what a tough sentence for Paul Manafort...What about Comey and Crooked Hillary and all of the others? Very unfair!”