LORETTO, PA     5/13/2020     11:01am(est)

 

 

 

Former Trump Campaign Chairman, Paul Manafort was released from prison on Wednesday morning, according to multiple reports. Manafort’s early release to home confinement came at the behest of Manafort’s lawyer who went to a judge and requested early release for his client, due to the possible exposure of 71-year old Manafort to Covid-19 A.K.A Coronavirus. Manafort was serving a 7 and a half year sentence at FCI Loretto (low), in Pennsylvania after being convicted on bank and fraud charges and also lobbying-related crimes. Manafort has been in jail since June of 2018.

 

 

 

CNN (@cnn) reported, the fear of inmates contracting Coronavirus behind bars has caused the Federal Bureau Of Prisons to release at least 2500 inmates to home confinement in hopes of containing the deadly virus, or at the very least, stopping the virus from being spread within prisons. FCI Loretto, where Manafort was housed had no confirmed cases of Covid-19, but his lawyer argued that because of his age, it was only a matter of time before Manafort contracted the virus. Manfort’s lawyers have asked the judge to consider allowing Manafort to do the rest of his sentence (about 4 more years) at home, or at least consider remanding Manafort to home confinement until the threat of contracting the virus no longer remains a concern. Manafort’s lawyers listed multiple health concerns Manafort faces including, liver and respiratory issues, and high blood pressure. Late last year, Manafort spent time in the hospital because of a heart condition. Manafort’s lawyers also asked that he be allowed to serve his home confinement at his wife’s apartment in Northern Virginia.