A federal judge rejected on Tuesday a sentence reduction plea from President Donald Trump‘s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen.
Cohen has been trying to reduce his three-year sentence since last year, arguing that prosecutors refused his cooperation because his cooperation would implicate Trump and complicate the case. Cohen’s attorney tried to argue recently that his client was at risk because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 in separate cases brought by the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan and special counsel Robert Mueller’s team.
One case charged that he evaded taxes and violated campaign finance laws by his involvement in sending hush money to women who allegedly had sexual affairs with Trump.
In the other case, Cohen pleaded guilty to making false statements to Congress in 2016 in an attempt to assuage concern over Trump’s involvement in a real estate project in Russia.
“Cohen made material and false statements in his post-sentencing proffer sessions,”
District Judge William Pauley wrote in his decision to reject the request. “Unable to articulate how he advanced any investigation or prosecution, Cohen and his surrogates make extravagant allegations that the Department of Justice — from the Attorney General down to line prosecutors — acted in bad faith. Those ad hominem attacks lack any substance and do not trigger the right to a remedy or a hearing before this Court.”
Pauley also wrote that Cohen’s coronavirus concerns were “just another effort to inject himself into the news cycle.”
The judge wrote that Cohen needs to accept the consequences of his actions and finish his sentence, which is scheduled for November 2021 with credit for “good time.”
“Ten months into his prison term, it’s time that Cohen accept the consequences of his criminal convictions for serious crimes that had far reaching institutional harms,” Pauley wrote.
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