Feds allege Manafort’s former son-in-law broke plea deal

Federal prosecutors claimed in a filing Tuesday that former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort’s ex-son-in-law violated his plea deal by committing further acts of fraud and using illegal drugs while in prison.

Jeffrey Yohai, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in February 2018, allegedly committed new instances of fraud while out on bond before reporting to prison. 

Those allegations include instances of home rental fraud, fraudulently selling passes for the Coachella music festival that he didn’t have and pawning musical instruments stolen from a man renting one of Yohai’s properties.

The document, first reported on by Politico, also states the Yohai used cocaine and methamphetamine while in prison. It says that he tested positive for both substances and admitted to authorities that he used them.

Yohai’s lawyer pushed for his client to be released so he could seek treatment at a drug rehabilitation facility, according to the filing, but lost that argument in court.

The document also states that another filing under seal alleges that Yohai committed other violations of his plea agreement.

If a judge finds that Yohai did violate the agreement, it opens the door to him facing further charges and a harsher sentence.

Prosecutors wrote in the filing that the plea deal included an agreement to not reveal certain information about Yohai that would have impacted his sentencing.

“If the Court were to find, however, that defendant breached his plea agreement, then the government would be free to provide all the information it possesses to the Court at sentencing,” the filing reads.

Yohai was a former business partner with Manafort. He married Manafort’s daughter Jessica in 2013, but she filed for divorce in 2017.

Yohai was referenced during Manafort’s trial in the Eastern District of Virginia last year, but was not charged in the case and did not testify.

Manafort was convicted on eight felony charges in the case, including a bank fraud charge tied to Yohai.

Politico also reported that Yohai did not cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller’s team, which prosecuted Manafort, but that a former Mueller prosecutor is working on Yohai’s case.