Ex-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen back in federal prison
President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer and fixer,
Michael Cohen, was returned to federal prison Thursday, weeks after his early
release to serve the remainder of his sentence at home because of the
coronavirus pandemic, the federal Bureau of Prisons said.
In a statement to The Associated Press, the Bureau of
Prisons said Cohen had “refused the conditions of his home confinement and as a
result, has been returned to a BOP facility.” His return to prison comes days
after the New York Post published photos of him and his wife enjoying an
outdoor meal with friends at a restaurant near his Manhattan home.
Roger Adler, one of Cohen's attorneys, called his jailing an
“overly draconian response to what was at worst poor judgment.” He said it was
Cohen's belief that being on medical furlough “did not prohibit venturing
beyond his apartment and dining out.”
“It's not a crime to eat out and support local
businesses," Adler told the AP, adding Cohen had been “thrown back into a
petri dish of coronavirus.”
Cohen, who pleaded guilty to tax evasion, campaign finance
fraud and lying to Congress, had been released May 21 on furlough as part of an
attempt to slow the spread of the virus in federal prisons. Cohen, 53, began
serving his sentence in May 2019 and had been scheduled to remain in prison
until November 2021.
Cohen’s convictions were related to crimes including dodging
taxes on $4 million in income from his taxi business, lying during
congressional testimony about the timing of discussions around an abandoned
plan to build a Trump Tower in Russia, and orchestrating payments to two women
to keep them from talking publicly about alleged affairs with Trump.
Prosecutors said the payments amounted to illegal campaign contributions.
Trump, who denied the affairs, said any payments were a personal matter.
Adler said the FBI had agreed to return to Cohen two smartphones
it seized as part of its investigation, adding Cohen had planned to pick them
up Thursday after an appointment at the federal courthouse in Manhattan
concerning his home confinement.
Cohen was once one of Trump’s closest advisors but became a
loud critic after pleading guilty.
A federal judge had denied Cohen’s attempt for an early
release to home confinement after serving 10 months in prison and said in a May
ruling that it “appears to be just another effort to inject himself into the
news cycle.” But the Bureau of Prisons can move prisoners to home confinement
without a judicial order.
Prison advocates and congressional leaders had pressed the
Justice Department to release at-risk inmates, arguing that the public health
guidance to stay 6 feet (2 meters) away from other people is nearly impossible
behind bars.
Attorney General William Barr ordered the Bureau of Prisons
to increase the use of home confinement and expedite the release of eligible
high-risk inmates, beginning at three prisons identified as coronavirus hot
spots. Otisville, where Cohen was housed, was not one of those facilities.
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