Lawrence native and former personal attorney for President Donald Trump, Michael Cohen, could have his prison release denied because he does not meet the federal standard of having served at least half his prison sentence.
Cohen who was convicted of several felonies and sentenced to three years in prison in 2018 was expected to be released because of the coronavirus pandemic after a 14-day quarantine period, prison officials said. He would serve the remainder of his sentence confined to home.
However, a change in the Bureau of Prisons policy makes Cohen, and another federal prisoner, formder State Sen. Dean Skelos ineligible for early release. Judges can order what is called a "compassionate release" when a prisoner has a situation such as a severe medical condition.
He was serving his sentence and expected to be released in November 2021 from federal prison in upstate
Otisville, where 14 inmates and seven staff members at the facility tested positive for Covid-19, as of press time. A federal judge had previously rejected Cohen’s request for a sentence reduction because of coronavirus on March 24.
Cohen was found guilty of breaking campaign finance laws, tax evasion and lying to Congress, among other charges in 2018. He was also ordered to pay $1.39 million in restitution, forfeit $500,000 and pay a $50,000 fine. The guilty pleas to the federal felony charges resulted in his disbarment as a lawyer in New York state.
Serving as Trump's personal attorney, Cohen, 53, arranged six-figure payments to a porn star known as
Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, and former Playboy model Karen McDougal, to buy their silence about their one-time affairs with the president.
Cohen testified multiple times in front of Congressional committees on Capitol Hill last year, including the public hearing before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, where he famously called his former boss a racist and a cheat, and admitted,” I am a fool.”
