In a new lawsuit filed on Monday, President Donald Trump's former personal attorney Michael Cohen claimed that he is entitled to an early release from home confinement. The petition has been filed in the Southern District of New York.
In his petition, Cohen argues that he deserves time credits under the First Step Act, which alludes to a criminal justice reform bill signed by Trump into law two years ago. The Bureau of Prisons informed Cohen on Dec. 15 that he isn't entitled to any credit, even though he spent hundreds of hours working and completing courses while being put into detention in the federal correctional facility, which is based in Otisville, New York.
The petition describes the calculation as a mere delay tactic, noting that it violates "the plain language of the statute," as Petitioner should get credit under the act, as the petition states. Based on the Bureau of Prisons' calculations, the Petitioner could be entitled to a release in a matter of months or just weeks, doing the damage suffered by the Petitioner near immeasurable.
Cohen urges the court to issue an order, requiring the Bureau of Prisons to calculate and apply the credits he earned to his sentence under the First Step Act. Aside from that, he filed an emergency petition in the Southern District of New York for a writ of mandamus, featuring similar claims.
In an interview with The Hill, Cohen said he did this to require that the Bureau of Prisons determine the earned time credits for all eligible federal inmates, and not just himself. He went on to tell the outlet that he will not stop fighting for prison reform.
Originally slated to remain in prison until next Nov., Cohen was released in May in a bid to serve the rest of his sentence at home as part of the government's attempt to restrict the spread of the coronavirus pandemic in federal prisons. However, Cohen said that the U.S. Bureau of Prisons wrote him a letter, noting that he isn't entitled to any credits for his work at FCI Otisville.
After being released earlier, Cohen had to return to prison for a couple of weeks in July following an early run-in with the Bureau of Prisons. He was asked to go back to his Manhattan apartment after a judge ruled he was subject to a counterattack for writing a tell-all memoir ahead of the presidential election, News 18 reported.