Special counsel delays Rick Gates' sentencing for second time, cites continued cooperation

Special Counsel Robert Mueller on Tuesday delayed the sentencing of Rick Gates for the second time, citing the former Manafort associate’s continued cooperation with “several ongoing investigations.”

In a joint-status report filed by Mueller, Andrew Weissmann and Greg Andres, along with Gates’ attorney Thomas Green, the parties agreed to provide an update within 60 days – “no later than March, 15, 2019.”

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The parties filed the first joint-status report on Nov. 14, 2018.

“To date, the status of this matter has not changed substantially since the November report, as defendant Gates continues to cooperate with respect to several ongoing investigations, and accordingly the parties do not believe it is appropriate to commence the sentencing process at this time,” the report, reviewed by Fox News, stated.

Gates, who was a close associate of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, and also did work for the Trump campaign in 2016, pleaded guilty last year to one count of conspiracy against the U.S. and one count of making false statements to FBI agents.

Gates also entered a plea deal with prosecutors to cooperate in the case against Manafort, which led Mueller to dismiss nearly two-dozen tax and bank fraud charges against Gates.

The deal indicated that Gates’ cooperation with the special counsel team could be yielding good information in Mueller’s case against Manafort. Gates had intimate knowledge of Manafort’s years of political consulting work in Ukraine.

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In September, Manafort pleaded guilty in federal court as part of a plea agreement that involved cooperation with Mueller’s team and allowed him to avoid a second trial. He had been facing seven counts of foreign lobbying violations and witness tampering in federal court in Washington.

In August, Manafort was convicted on several bank and fraud charges in a separate Virginia federal case. A sentencing date, in that case, has been set for Feb. 8.

Meanwhile, Gates is not the first Trump campaign associate who has had his sentencing repeatedly delayed by the special counsel. Mueller’s team sought to delay sentencing for former White House National Security Adviser Michael Flynn four times.

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A federal judge in Flynn’s case, who pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI as part of Mueller’s probe, asked that both sides file a status report due March 13.

Fox News’ Alex Pappas and Jake Gibson contributed to this report.