Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who was sentenced earlier this year to four years in prison for tax and bank fraud in connection to his work advising Ukrainian political figures, is going to be transferred from a minimum security facility in Pennsylvania to New York City’s Rikers Island, a source close to Manafort told Fox News.
Rikers Island is the famous prison in the shadow of LaGuardia Airport. The jail has been a temporary home for infamous high-profile violent criminals in the city, including David Berkowitz, the Son of Sam; and Mark David Chapman, the man who killed John Lennon.
“He’s not a mob boss,” the source close to Manafort said.
A New York State judge ordered for Manafort to be transferred to the New York City prison at the request of District Attorney Cy Vance, Jr. Manafort will be held in solitary confinement for his own protection, the source said.
Manafort’s conviction in August made him the first campaign associate of President Donald Trump guilty by a jury as part of the Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe. U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis emphasized ahead of sentencing that the Manafort case was not about Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
Prosecutors concluded that Manafort, 69, concealed income earned from political work overseas from the IRS while fraudulently obtaining millions in bank loans. Manafort had pleaded not guilty to all 18 counts in the case.
He is still facing additional years in jail from another case: After his conviction in Virginia, Manafort pleaded guilty in Washington to foreign lobbying violations and witness tampering as part of a plea deal with prosecutors.
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