Manafort granted home confinement
Paul Manafort, President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, was released Wednesday to serve his prison term under home confinement because of coronavirus fears, one of his lawyers confirmed.
Manafort, a New Britain, Conn., native, had been imprisoned since June 2018 when he was indicted by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III on a charge of witness tampering while awaiting trial on bank and tax fraud charges, for which he was convicted that summer. He later pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States and obstruct justice related to his undisclosed lobbying for a proRussian politician and political party in Ukraine.
Manafort, serving a sevenyear term, was released to his home in Alexandria, Virginia, from the minimum-security Loretto Federal Correctional Institution in central Pennsylvania.
His term was set to end in November 2024. His release was first reported by ABC News.
Manafort’s attorneys argued in April that, in light of the coronavirus pandemic, Manafort should be released to serve out at least a portion of that sentence with his wife in their Northern Virginia condominium. His release was confirmed Wednesday by attorney Todd Blanche.
“Mr. Manafort is 71 years old and suffers from several preexisting health conditions, including high blood pressure, liver disease, and respiratory ailments,” his lawyers wrote.
Manafort was hospitalized for several days in December because of heart problems, they noted, and in February he contracted influenza and bronchitis. Given that history, the lawyers said that if he became infected with covid-19, “Mr. Manafort is at a significantly higher risk for serious illness or death.”
Attorney General William Barr in late March directed the U.S. Bureau of Prisons to release to home confinement more vulnerable prisoners not considered a danger to the community.