WASHINGTON (CN) — A federal judge on Friday granted Roger Stone two extra weeks before he must report to prison, after the convicted confidant of President Donald Trump requested a delay due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Stone will now report to prison on July 14 under the order from U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson. Stone had requested a delay through Sept. 3 “in light of his heightened risk of serious medical consequences from exposure to the Covid-19 virus.”
The order from Jackson puts the start date on Stone’s 40-month prison sentence a full 75 days later than originally planned, according to the order. The order is accompanied by an opinion filed under seal, but Jackson’s order notes the document could be “unsealed in its entirety” because it does not include private medical information about Stone.
Stone asked for the delay earlier this week, citing both his age and underlying medical conditions that put him at higher risk of Covid-19.
Stone was sentenced to 40 months in prison in February after being convicted of lying to Congress, obstruction of justice and witness tampering. There is widespread speculation, fueled in large part by Trump’s Twitter feed, that Stone is in line for a presidential pardon.
Amid widespread concerns over the ability of prisons to implement social distancing and testing regimes necessary to slow the spread of Covid-19, multiple high-profile defendants have moved to be released from prison to home confinement early out of concern for their safety.
According to the Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Institution Jesup, where Stone would serve his sentence, does not have any confirmed cases of Covid-19. Across all federal prisons, more than 6,300 inmates have tested positive, according to the Bureau of Prisons website.
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