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Law360 (April 14, 2020, 10:32 PM EDT ) Attorneys for former Trump campaign chairman Paul J. Manafort Jr. have asked the director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons to allow the 71-year-old to serve all or part of his remaining sentence in home confinement, saying he's at "high-risk" for severe illness from COVID-19.
Manafort's attorney Kevin Downing of the Law Office of Kevin Downing penned Monday's letter, seen by Law360, requesting that the Federal Bureau of Prisons "immediately transfer Mr. Manafort to home confinement to serve the remainder of his sentence." Alternatively, the bureau should allow Manafort to be in home confinement at least for the duration of the coronavirus pandemic, Downing wrote.
Due to his age and preexisting health conditions, Manafort is at a high risk of contracting COVID-19 at the Federal Correction Institute Loretto, a low-security facility in Pennsylvania, his counsel said.
"It is imperative that Mr. Manafort be transferred to home confinement immediately in order to minimize the likelihood of Mr. Manafort contracting or spreading the potentially fatal disease," Downing wrote.
Manafort has been imprisoned since June 15, 2018 and is currently serving a 7½-year federal prison term for two separate convictions: in Washington, D.C., for obstruction and unsanctioned lobbying work, and in Virginia for bank and tax fraud. He is scheduled to be released on Nov. 3, 2024.
A Federal Bureau of Prisons spokesperson said Wednesday that while they are unable to comment on any particular inmate's suitability for home confinement, the bureau is reviewing all inmates who have COVID-19 risk factors and that inmates do not need to apply to be considered for home confinement.
The spokesperson said that since March 26, when the Attorney General instructed the bureau to prioritize home confinement in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the bureau has placed an additional 1,119 inmates on home confinement.
Manafort's D.C. case centered on charges that he failed to register as a foreign agent and laundered money while working on behalf of Ukrainian interests. He pled guilty to the charges in 2018, and was earlier convicted by a jury in the Virginia case.
In December, a New York judge dismissed a 16-count criminal mortgage fraud case accusing Manafort of making false statements in an effort to obtain millions of dollars in loans from roughly 2015 to 2017, citing double jeopardy grounds.
In the letter Monday, Manafort's counsel said the Bureau of Prisons "must act to protect the health and well-being of at-risk inmates like Mr. Manafort," explaining that he is "at a significantly higher risk for serious illness or death."
Downing said Manafort suffers from high blood pressure, liver disease and "respiratory ailments." He said Manafort was hospitalized in December for a heart condition and then contracted both bronchitis and influenza in February. But Downing admitted that the Loretto prison hasn't reported any cases of COVID-19.
Nonetheless, Downing argued that "given the growing number of cases in Pennsylvania and increasing challenges in testing inmates and staff potentially exposed to COVID-19, it is only a matter of time before the infection spreads to staff and inmates at FCI Loretto, at which time it may be too late to prevent high-risk inmates, such as Mr. Manafort, from contracting the potentially deadly virus."
Downing noted that there have already been at least 10 reported deaths of federal inmates as well as hundreds of reported cases among inmates and prison staff nationwide. He cited Attorney General William Barr's March 26 memo directing the Bureau of Prisons to prioritize the use of "various statutory authorities to grant home confinement for inmates seeking transfer in connection with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic."
Furthermore, he pointed to the March 27 enactment of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, saying it broadens the authority of the attorney general and the director of the bureau to release prisoners to home confinement during the COVID-19 crisis.
Downing also cited Barr's April 3 memo directing the bureau to "immediately review all inmates who have COVID-19 risk factors" and to "immediately transfer" those whom the bureau deems suitable candidates to home confinement following a 14-day quarantine.
Manafort has been under quarantine at FCI Loretto since March 30, his counsel said, meaning he should be eligible for immediate transfer.
Counsel information for the government could not immediately be determined Tuesday.
Manafort is represented by Todd Blanche of the law firm Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP and Kevin Downing of the Law Offices of Kevin Downing.
The cases are U.S. v. Manafort et al., case number 1:17-cr-00201 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, and case number 1:18-cr-00083 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
--Editing by Breda Lund.
Update: This article has been updated to include additional comments.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
