Manafort in Court for Sentencing

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) -- Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort is due back in a Virginia courtroom to decide whether he will be sentenced on fraud charges before or after he completes his cooperation with prosecutors.

Manafort was convicted in federal court in Alexandria on tax- and bank-fraud charges largely unconnected to his work on the Trump campaign.

After his conviction, Manafort struck a plea deal on separate charges in the District of Columbia and agreed to cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation.

Prosecutors had wanted to delay Manafort's sentencing until his cooperation was complete, but Virginia Judge T.S. Ellis expressed concerns about the delay and scheduled a hearing for Friday afternoon.

Manafort will appear in court in a prison jumpsuit; the judge denied a request he be allowed to wear civilian clothes.

(KA)