Ex-Trump aide Manafort wins dismissal of New York fraud charges
Ex-Trump campaign deputy Gates gets probation, 45 days in jail
Jury selection to begin in trial of Trump adviser Roger Stone
His lawyers had asked the Bureau of Prisons to release him to home confinement, arguing that he was at high risk for coronavirus because of his age and pre-existing medical conditions.
Manafort was hospitalised in December after suffering from a heart-related condition, two people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press news agency at the time.
Manafort was among the first people to be charged in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, which examined possible coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia in the 2016 election campaign.
Manafort, who was prosecuted in two federal courts, was convicted by a jury in federal court in Virginia in 2018 and later pleaded guilty in Washington, DC.
He was sentenced last March and was immediately hit with state charges in New York that could put him outside the president’s power to pardon.
New York prosecutors have accused him of giving false information on a mortgage loan application.
Manafort’s release comes as prison advocates and congressional leaders have been pressing the Justice Department for weeks to release at-risk inmates before a potential outbreak.
2818 inmates tested positive
They argue that the public health guidance to stay 1.8 metres away from other people is nearly impossible behind bars.
Attorney General William Barr ordered the Bureau of Prisons in March and April to increase the use of home confinement and expedite the release of eligible high-risk inmates, beginning at three prisons identified as coronavirus hotspots.
There are no confirmed coronavirus cases at FCI Loretto.
As of Tuesday, 2 818 federal inmates and 262 BOP staff members had positive test results for Covid-19 at federal prisons across the country. Fifty inmates had died.
The bureau has given contradictory and confusing guidance how it is deciding who is released to home confinement in an effort to combat the virus, changing requirements, setting up inmates for release and backing off and refusing to explain how it decides who gets out and when.
An agency spokeswoman said more than 2 400 inmates have been moved to home confinement since 26 March, when Barr first issued a home confinement memo, and more than 1 200 others have been approved and are in the pipeline to be released.
