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Law360 (March 24, 2020, 6:13 PM EDT ) Disbarred Maryland attorney and former "Real Housewives" cast member Brynee Baylor has petitioned a D.C. federal judge to release her from prison and into home detention, arguing her underlying health problems and the prison's refusal to properly treat them puts her at a higher risk of contracting COVID-19.
Baylor argued on Monday that she has a "long-standing, documented serious medical condition" related to her kidneys, which, along with her hypertension and the poor medical treatment she is receiving in custody, "unreasonably" exposes her to risk of infection.
Allowing her to serve the remainder of her sentence in home detention "will shelter Ms. Baylor in place at her residence and allow her to protect herself from the spread of the novel coronavirus," she argued.
The Department of Justice filed a response Tuesday, and said Baylor's request should be denied because she had not exhausted all administrative remedies. Baylor must request that the Bureau of Prisons file a motion on her behalf and then show that 30 days have passed without any BOP action, the DOJ said.
Baylor, who once co-led the D.C. firm Baylor & Jackson PLLC and appeared on the first season of "The Real Housewives of Potomac," was tried in April and sentenced to two years incarceration in September for her role in a sham trading program that scammed investors out of more than $2 million.
On the eve of her scheduled incarceration in January, Baylor repetitioned U.S. District Judge Ellen S. Huvelle to allow her to remain free while she appealed her conviction, but the request was denied.
Baylor now argues that the Bureau of Prisons' failure to properly treat her high blood pressure has resulted in her bleeding directly into her kidneys, which further complicates her pre-existing kidney conditions. Baylor is being held at FPC Alderson in West Virgina.
Baylor said she was taken to a nephrologist several weeks ago to be examined, but has not received any report of the visit.
Baylor also argued that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's COVID-19 guidelines say that people with chronic medical conditions should take immediate preventative actions, including avoiding crowded areas, but that the conditions of incarceration create the "ideal environment" for the transmission of contagious disease.
"As this court is well aware, Ms. Baylor poses neither a flight risk nor a danger to society," Baylor argued. "The offenses for which she has been found guilty and for which she is serving her sentences are non-violent crimes."
Baylor is not the only high-profile federal prisoner to seek release due to the apparent risk of COVID-19 infection.
President Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen also recently sought release from an upstate New York federal detention center, citing health concerns over the coronavirus outbreak, among other things. A Manhattan federal judge denied his request on Tuesday.
The U.S. Department of Justice and counsel for Baylor did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The government is represented by Jeffrey A. McLellan and Eric B. Powers of the DOJ's Tax Division.
Baylor is represented by David Benowitz of Price Benowitz LLP.
The case is U.S. v. Brynee Baylor, case number 1:16-cr-00180, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
--Additional reporting by Pete Brush. Editing by Nicole Bleier.
Update: This story has been updated with information from a response filed Tuesday by the DOJ.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
