A judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of New York denied Michael Cohen’s request for early release from prison Tuesday due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cohen is currently serving a 36-month sentence for various financial crimes, including campaign fraud and making false statements to Congress. He asked that the sentence be reduced to 12 months and one day or alternatively that the court allow him to serve out the rest of his sentence in at-home confinement.

Cohen attempted to have the sentence reduced before but was denied. To have a sentence reduced the order must come from the prosecution and the prosecution cited his false statements during proffer as a reason for why they deny his request. The judge, in this case, upheld the right of the prosecution not to commute the sentence.

Finally, the judge denied Cohen because he sees his new plea for release based on COVID-19 concerns as an attempt by Cohen to insert himself in the news cycle.

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