Manafort appears in wheelchair at court hearing

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort appeared in court Friday afternoon in a wheelchair due to what his lawyer said were “significant” health issues related to the “terms of his confinement.”

{mosads}Manafort’s lawyer, Kevin Downing, said his health has suffered since he’s been in jail. Judge T.S. Ellis III agreed to Downing’s request to expedite the preparation of Manafort’s presentence report in order to allow Manafort to be moved out of confinement and into a Bureau of Prisons facility, if he is sentenced to prison in February.

A person familiar with Manafort’s condition told CNN that Manafort is suffering from inflammation related to his diet in the Alexandria detention center where he has been housed.

Manafort in wheelchair, credit: Art Lien pic.twitter.com/xpWDHaMMdi

— Charlie Gile (@CharlieGileNBC) October 19, 2018

Manafort was found guilty in August of eight counts of bank and tax fraud.

Ellis will dismiss the other 10 remaining counts that the jury deadlocked on as part of his cooperation with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s election interference.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 8.