One day after Special Counsel Robert Mueller agreed to drop the superseding indictment against Rick Gates, who has pleaded guilty to two charges and is cooperating, he also is letting Gates lose his monitoring device and venture farther from home.
In a court document filed Wednesday in federal district court, Gates’ attorney, Thomas Green, said Mueller did not oppose his client’s request to remove the electronic GPS monitoring device that Gates was forced to wear following his indictment last October on multiple charges, including money laundering and making false statements.
Noting Gates “is now obliged to coordinate certain activities” with Mueller as part of the plea deal, Green also requested U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson end court-imposed restrictions on Gates’ travel from his home in Richmond to court proceedings and other legal meetings in Washington.
“These obligations require his presence in Washington, D.C., often on short notice, and also require frequent consultation” with Mueller and his Washington-based investigators, Green told the court. “In the past these arrangements have been delayed and made more complicated by the need to obtain permission to travel.”
Gates has incentive to behave. He faces very serious consequences if he violates the conditions of his plea agreement.
“The advantages that attach to strict compliance with that agreement, and the extraordinary disincentives to violating that agreement, are more than sufficient to guarantee Mr. Gates’ appearance at any scheduled proceeding to include the date of sentencing,” Green wrote, noting that Mueller’s office “does not oppose this motion.”
Mueller approves Gates’ request to end GPS monitoring, more travel (Politico)