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Michael Cohen, Ex-Trump Lawyer, To Be Released Early From Prison Amid Pandemic

By: Ryan Lucas | NPR
Posted on: Friday, April 17, 2020

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OTISVILLE, N.Y. (NPR) — President Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, is to be released early from federal prison and moved to home confinement because of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to a range of financial and campaign finance crimes, as well as lying to Congress.

He is currently serving a three-year sentence at the federal correctional institution in Otisville, N.Y.

Cohen will be released to home confinement for the remainder of his sentence, according to the person with knowledge of the matter. Cohen is expected to first have to be quarantined for 14 days before going home.

A Justice Department official confirmed that Cohen is to be released to home confinement.

The Bureau of Prisons declined to comment on Cohen’s status. It only said that as of Friday morning, he was still at Otisville.

But the agency has been working at the direction of Attorney General William Barr to move at-risk inmates to home confinement to try to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus in the bureau’s 122 facilities nationwide.

Despite a range of steps taken by the bureau, the coronavirus has continued to spread throughout the federal prison system. So far, 473 inmates and 279 staff members have tested positive.

Otisville is among the facilities affected by the outbreak. The agency says 14 inmates and seven staff members there have confirmed cases of COVID-19.