Manafort associate begs for leniency after getting busted for steering foreign funds to Trump's inauguration
President Donald Trump is doubling down on his latest threats to close all or part of the US border with Mexico. (AFP / Nicholas Kamm)

An associate of Paul Manafort who admitted to brokering access to President Donald Trump's inauguration for a pro-Russian Ukrainian oligarch is now seeking leniency.


Sam Patten pleaded guilty to failing to register in the U.S. as a Ukrainian agent last year after being caught up in special counsel Robert Mueller's probe. Mueller referred the prosecution to U.S. Attorney Jessie Liu in the District of Columbia.

Patten told a court Monday that he was "not motivated by greed or a desire to conceal relevant information … or to aid or cover up any potential interference with the 2016 Presidential election."

He faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.