WASHINGTON, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Former Trump campaign aide Rick Gates pleaded guilty to charges of federal conspiracy and false statements on Friday in the ongoing Trump-Russia probe led by special counsel Robert Muller.
Gates, 45, of Richmond, Virginia, appeared at the federal courthouse in Washington for a plea agreement hearing Friday afternoon.
According to a court filing revealed earlier in the day, Gates pleaded to charges of conspiracy against the United States and making false statements to FBI investigators.
Gates' plea comes a day after he and his longtime business associate, Paul Manafort, were indicted in Virginia on new charges of tax evasion and bank fraud. Manafort was the former Trump campaign chief, and Gates was a former campaign aide.
The pair were accused of laundering 30 million U.S. dollars, failing to pay taxes for nearly 10 years and using their real estate to fraudulently secure millions of dollars in loans, according to a 32-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Virginia on Thursday.
Thursday's indictment was the second round of charges against Gates and Manafort, who were among the first to be charged, as part of a Mueller-led investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow.
They were charged last October with money laundering, conspiracy and other offenses in a federal court in Washington. Manafort has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him.
In a statement following Gates' decision, Manafort said that he continues to maintain his "innocence" and Gates' plea would not alter his commitment to defend himself against "the untrue piled up charges."
