WASHINGTON — George Papadopoulos, taken by surprise by FBI agents at an airport last summer, now tweets smiling beach selfies with a hashtag for the Greek resort island of Mykonos.
Rick Gates, for weeks on home confinement, gets rapid approval for a family vacation and shaves down his potential prison time.
Michael Flynn, once targeted in a grand jury investigation, travels cross-country to campaign for a California congressional candidate and books a New York speaking event.
It pays to cooperate with the government.
That’s true in any criminal investigation. It’s especially notable in a case as high profile as special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia inquiry, where deals for cooperators have raised speculation about incriminating information they’re providing.
The perks of cooperation include freer travel, lenient punishment prospects and even public comments by defendants that might have been unthinkable months ago. Compare that with the experiences of Paul Manafort, the former Trump campaign chairman who has not cooperated and faces decades in prison.
“There’s no question that it’s in the government’s interest to take what steps they can to show that cooperating is in the interest of the defendant,” said Daniel Petalas, a former federal prosecutor. “A basic principle of plea bargaining is that you have to make it worth it to the defendant to admit liability in a criminal matter.”
It’s common for prosecutors looking to induce cooperation to make concessions, such as dismissing charges or agreeing to recommend a lighter sentence, especially for someone they think can help them build a case against a higher-value target.
There’s nothing new about cutting deals, including for violent mobsters, but the tactics have drawn renewed scrutiny especially in conservative legal circles.
“Prosecutors are going to be cognizant that there are always going to be credibility issues with cooperators,” said former prosecutor Peter Zeidenberg, “but these are very experienced prosecutors and they’re making a decision that, on balance, they’re getting something in return.”