A federal judge slapped down Michael Cohen’s request to finish the rest of his three-year prison sentence in home confinement.
President Trump’s former attorney has been seeking an early release since last year. More recently, Cohen’s attorney argued that he was at risk of becoming infected with the coronavirus.
U.S. District Court Judge William Pauley on Tuesday said Cohen does not deserve an early release because he has failed to accept the gravity of his crimes.
“Ten months into his prison term, it’s time that Cohen accept the consequences of his criminal convictions for serious crimes that had far-reaching institutional harms,” Pauley wrote in the order. “For these reasons, Cohen’s application to reduce or modify his sentence is denied.”
Cohen began his prison sentence in May after pleading guilty in December 2018 to bank fraud, lying to Congress, and illegal campaign contributions.
Pauley said only prosecutors could file a motion to reduce a prison sentence under the provision Cohen cited. He also dismissed Cohen’s argument that he had helped investigators.
“Cohen made material and false statements in his post-sentencing proffer sessions,” Pauley wrote. “Unable to articulate how he advanced any investigation or prosecution, Cohen and his surrogates [made] extravagant allegations that the Justice Department — from the Attorney General down to line prosecutors — acted in bad faith. Those ad hominem attacks lack any substance and do not trigger the right to a remedy or a hearing before this Court.”
Earlier this week, prosecutors in the Southern District of New York asked the judge to deny Cohen’s request to be released because of the coronavirus pandemic, saying he had “not even attempted to argue that he is uniquely at risk as compared to other inmates.”
“That Cohen would seek to single himself out for release to home confinement appears to be just another effort to inject himself into the news cycle,” Pauley wrote.
Cohen, 53, is incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution in Otisville, located about 70 miles outside of New York City. The Federal Bureau of Prisons website lists his release date as Nov. 22, 2021.
