According to prosecutors, Cohen, who has pleaded guilty to eight federal criminal charges, immediately sought to monetize his connections to Trump in the wake of his former boss' 2016 election victory.

"Cohen successfully convinced numerous major corporations to retain him as a 'consultant' who could provide unique insights about and access to the new administration," prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memo filed on Friday. "Some of these corporations were then stuck making large up-front or periodic payments to Cohen, even though he provided little or no real services under these contracts. Bank records reflect that Cohen made more than $4 million dollars before the contracts were terminated."

Among Cohen's confirmed consulting clients were telecom giant AT&T, Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis, and Columbus Nova, the investment fund linked to Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg.

But Cohen had at least one more previously unreported and politically connected associate.