Cohen to be imprisoned at facility that offers matzo ball soup, occasional visit home
President Trump's former attorney, Michael Cohen, is set to be imprisoned on Monday for a range of federal offenses he pleaded guilty to last year.
Cohen is scheduled to report to the Federal Correctional Institute in Otisville, N.Y., to serve a three-year sentence, according to Reuters. Cohen received the sentence last December after pleading guilty to charges of bank and tax fraud, as well as campaign finance violations.
The sentences stem from Cohen's time working for Trump as his personal "fixer." Cohen pleaded guilty to taking part in a scheme to silence adult-film star Stormy Daniels and ex-Playboy model Karen McDougal with payments ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
Daniels and McDougal alleged they had affairs with Trump. Federal prosecutors in New York implicated Trump in the crime, saying Cohen "acted in coordination with and at the direction of" of the president in making the payments. Trump has repeatedly denied having affairs with the women.
Cohen will be housed at the federal correctional institute's minimum security camp. Prison consultants told Reuters that the facility has become a common destination for Jewish inmates because of its proximity to the New York Jewish community.
“He’s going to what I like to refer to as ‘Jewish heaven,’” Larry Levine, founder of Wall Street Prison Consultants, told the news service.
Reuters notes that, Guy Petrillo, Cohen's lawyer at the time of the sentencing, requested the Cohen be sent to the facility in Otisville, though it remains unclear why he put in the request.
Jack Donson, a former manager at the prison who now runs a prison consulting firm, told Reuters that the facility is unusual in that it has a full-time rabbi.
Inmates have greater access to kosher food at the facility as well. The prison's website advertises matzo ball soup and gefilte fish, among other items, according to Reuters.
The news service noted that the prison also allows for the occasional visit home for its inmates.
https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/442163-cohen-to-start-serving-prison-sentence-monday