Michael Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison yesterday after a federal judge determined he should face “considerable punishment” for crimes he committed at the direction of Donald Trump, his one-time client and patron.

Judge William Pauley agreed with prosecutors that the charges to which Mr Cohen pleaded guilty, connected to paying hush money to two women who claim to have had affairs with Mr Trump, were in “co-ordination with” and at “the direction of” the president.

Although Mr Cohen has co-operated with Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia, Mr Pauley said the bank and tax fraud charges brought against him in New York could not be ignored. “While Mr Cohen was taking steps to mitigate his criminal conduct by pleading guilty and volunteering useful information to prosecutors, that does not wipe the slate clean,” the judge said.