ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — T.S. Ellis III, a federal judge renowned for his legal expertise and authoritative presence during a number of major trials, has passed away following a prolonged illness at the age of 85.
Ellis presided over the trials of former Donald Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and ex-U.S. Rep. William “Dollar Bill” Jefferson, as well as the plea agreement with “American Taliban” John Walker Lindh, during his judicial career spanning over 35 years.
His sharp wit occasionally provoked subdued grumbling at the Alexandria, Virginia courthouse where he served, yet his legal judgments were unrivaled.
Ellis died Wednesday at his home in Keswick, according to the Cremation Society of Virginia.
Born in Colombia in 1940, Thomas Selby Ellis III often employed his Spanish-speaking abilities in court. He encouraged Spanish-speaking defendants who used interpreters to speak directly as they requested leniency, stating he preferred to hear their own words.
After earning an undergraduate degree from Princeton, Ellis joined the Navy and pursued further studies at Oxford. He acquired his law degree from Harvard, graduating magna cum laude.
He was appointed to the federal bench by President Ronald Reagan in 1987.
Known for its rapid case resolutions, the “Rocket Docket” courthouse was home to Ellis’ courtroom, which showcased his unconventional style. While his hearings were rarely on time, his punctuality improved notably during jury trials due to his firm respect for jurors’ time commitments.
He frequently chastised lawyers to cut short long-winded arguments, in what he called “a concession to the shortness of life.” But he was easily coaxed or diverted into telling stories from the bench recalling episodes from his long legal career.
He snapped at lawyers who annoyed him, but would often adopt a more conciliatory tone later in the same hearing, and apologize for his short temper.
His penchant for speaking freely drew raised eyebrows at what was arguably the highest-profile trial over which he presided: the prosecution of Manafort, on charges of tax and bank fraud related to his work advising pro-Russia Ukrainian politicians before managing Trump’s campaign.
Ellis ultimately delivered a 47-month sentence, and said as an aside that Manafort appeared to have lived “an otherwise blameless life,” a phrase he often used at criminal sentencings. Critics who found much to blame in Manafort’s long career working for clients including the tobacco industry and international despots were outraged by the comment.
In 2009, Ellis sentenced Jefferson, a former Louisiana congressman, to 13 years in prison for taking bribes, including $90,000 found hidden in his freezer. The case threw multiple curveballs at Ellis, including a sexual relationship between a key witness and an investigating FBI agent.
In 2017, Ellis reduced Jefferson’s sentence to time served after a Supreme Court case changed the rules for what constitutes bribery of public officials. He made clear, though, that he believed Jefferson’s actions were criminal, and called his conduct “venal.”
“Public corruption is a cancer,” he said at the time of Jefferson’s resentencing. “It needs to be prosecuted and punished.”
Ellis’ sentencing hearings often followed a familiar script in which he invited defendants to explain themselves “by way of extenuation, mitigation, or indeed anything at all” that they wanted to say on their behalf. He invariably told defendants before passing judgment that “you write the pages to your own life story.”
Ellis took senior status as a judge in 2007 but regularly worked an extensive docket. In recent years, with his failing health, his cases were reassigned.
