Former Donald Trump aide Paul Manafort released from prison amid coronavirus fears

Donald Trump's one-time campaign manager Paul Manafort will serve the rest of his sentence in home confinement
AFP via Getty Images (file photo)

Donald Trump’s onetime presidential campaign chairman Paul Manafort has been released from prison due to concerns about coronavirus.

He will spend the rest of his sentence in home confinement, his lawyer said as the move was confirmed on Wednesday.

Mr Manafort was among the first people to be charged in special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, which examined possible coordination between the Mr Trump presidential campaign and Russia in the 2016 election.

He was let out Wednesday morning from FCI Loretto, a low-security prison in Pennsylvania, according to his attorney, Todd Blanche.

Mr Manafort, who has been in jail since June 2018, had been serving more than seven years in prison following his conviction.

His 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 in the system.

They argue that the public health guidance to stay 6 feet (1.8 meters) away from other people is nearly impossible behind bars.

But Mr Manafort did not meet qualifications set by the Bureau of Prisons for potential release in the pandemic.

Under the bureau's guidelines, priority is supposed to be given to those inmates who have served half of their sentence or inmates with 18 months or less left and who served at least 25 per cent of their time.

The bureau has discretion about who can be released.

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.

Mr Manafort was hospitalised in December with a heart-related condition, two people familiar with the matter said at the time.

Other high-profile inmates such as Mr Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen and lawyer Michael Avenatti, who rose to fame representing porn star Stormy Daniels in lawsuits against Trump, have been told they are to be released.

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