Manafort sent to lockup in N.Y. for case

WASHINGTON — Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort has been transferred to a correctional facility in New York but will remain in federal custody while he faces state fraud charges, a Justice Department official said Tuesday.

Manafort, 70, who is serving a federal prison sentence, is waiting to be arraigned after state prosecutors in Manhattan unsealed a 16-count indictment that accuses him of giving false information on mortgage loan applications. He was expected to be held at New York City’s notorious jail complex, Rikers Island, until the state case is resolved.

But Manafort’s lawyers reached out to the federal Bureau of Prisons and raised concerns that his health and safety could be threatened if he was transferred to Rikers Island, the Justice Department official said. They instead proposed that Manafort continue to be held in federal custody and made available to state officials when needed, the official said.

The Justice Department contacted Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. about the proposal from Manafort’s lawyers. The state prosecutors didn’t object and the Justice Department “determined to err on the side of caution” by keeping Manafort in federal custody, the official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the official wasn’t authorized to speak publicly.

Manafort was sentenced in March to serve more than seven years in prison on federal charges.