President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort will serve the rest of his prison sentence at home, ABC News reports.
Two sources told the network that Manafort’s attorneys asked for his release from FCI Loretto in central Pennsylvania, citing concerns of coronavirus.
He was released Wednesday morning for home confinement, the sources said.
Manafort was sentenced to 7 years behind bars after he was found guilty of tax fraud and conspiracy. He was sent to prison in March 2019. His scheduled release from prison was Nov. 4, 2024.
He will serve the rest of his sentence at home. His attorney’s argued he was at high risk for contracting COVID-19 because of his age and underlying health conditions.
“We write on behalf of our client to request that the Bureau of Prisons (“BOP”) immediately transfer Mr. Manafort to home confinement to serve the remainder of his sentence or, alternatively, for the duration of the on-going COVID-19 pandemic in accordance with Attorney General William Barr’s directives to the BOP on March 26 and April 3, 2020, and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”), enacted on March 27, 2020,” attorneys Kevin Downing and Todd Blanche wrote in an April 13 letter obtained by ABC News.
Manafort’s lawyers said his pre-existing conditions include high blood pressure, liver disease and respiratory ailments. They said the 71-year-old contracted influenza and bronchitis in February and added that he takes 11 medications daily.
FCI Loretto has no known cases of coronavirus. But sources told ABC that the prison used to be a monastery and its open configuration would cause the virus to spread quickly.
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