The coronavirus will not be a get-out-of-jail-free card for Bill Cosby.
Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf filed an executive order that would temporarily release some nonviolent offenders from prisons to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Cosby has been pleading with the state to release him from prison, where he’s serving time for three counts of aggravated indecent assault without consent, out of fears that the 82-year-old could contract the virus.
On Thursday, Cosby’s spokesman Andrew Wyatt claimed that he believed the former actor would be “remanded to house arrest within the upcoming weeks.” He added, “We truly believe that Mr. Cosby will be a direct beneficiary of Governor Wolf’s executive order.”
Shortly after Wyatt made the claim, Maria Finn of the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections shut down Cosby’s hopes of a release from prison. Finn told the New York Daily News, “No, based on the reprieve criteria exempting sex offenders and knowing his highly publicized case, he would NOT qualify. I’m not sure where the publicist is getting his information.”
Kate Delano, a spokeswoman for the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, confirmed Finn’s case, saying, “Mr. Cosby is not eligible for release under Gov. Wolf’s order since he was convicted of a violent offense — aggravated indecent assault — and was deemed a sexually violent predator. So for both of those reasons, he would not be eligible to be released.”
