US

Michael Cohen To Leave Prison 18 Months Early Due To Coronavirus Concerns

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Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen will be released from prison 18 months earlier than scheduled due to concerns over coronavirus, his lawyer told several news outlets.

Cohen, 53, will be allowed to serve the remainder of his three-year prison sentence in home confinement. He is currently serving time at a minimum-security facility near Otisville, New York, on charges of bank fraud, tax evasion, lying to Congress, and making an illegal campaign payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

Cohen’s lawyer, Roger Adler, confirmed to CNN and NBC News that the Bureau of Prisons told Cohen on Thursday that he will be released to home confinement on May 1, after serving a 14-day quarantine.

He was slated to stay in jail until November 2021. He was sentenced on Dec. 12, 2018, and began serving his sentence on May 6, 2019.

Cohen’s lawyers pleaded to a judge last month to allow leave prison after an Otisville inmate tested positive for coronavirus late last month. The judge dismissed the request, saying that Cohen was seeking media attention.

Attorney General William Barr has ordered more federal prisoners be released as coronavirus cases have surged across the country. Prisons across the U.S. have seen widespread outbreaks due in large part to the close confinements of inmates in the facilities.

The Bureau of Prison’s website says it has released 1,198 of its 144,000 federal prisoners to home confinement because of the pandemic.

According to CNN, 14 inmates and seven prison employees at Otisville have tested positive for coronavirus.

As of Thursday, 473 federal inmates and 279 Bureau of Prisons staffers have tested positive for COVID-19. Eighteen inmates have died from the disease.