NEW YORK - Michael Cohen, President Donald
Trump's former personal lawyer, headed to a federal prison to
begin a three-year sentence on Monday, taking a parting shot at
his former boss in remarks to reporters as he left his Manhattan
apartment building.
Cohen, who once vowed to "take a bullet" for Trump but now
calls him a "con man," must report by 2pm (1800 GMT) to the
Federal Correctional Institution in Otisville, New York, about
70 miles (110 km) northwest of New York City to serve his
sentence for arranging hush payments to two women who said they
had sexual encounters with Trump and lying to the U.S. Congress.
He is expected to stay at the prison's minimum security
camp.
Cohen told journalists he hoped that once he completes his
sentence that "when I rejoin my family and friends that the
country will be in a place without xenophobia, injustice and
lies at the helm of our country. There still remains much to be
told. And I look forward to the day that I can share the truth."
Cohen then got into a black vehicle and drove off.
Cohen's prison term completes a stunning fall for the
52-year-old native of New York's Long Island whose career was
tethered to Trump as he evolved from wealthy real estate
developer to reality TV personality to politician. For more than
a decade, Cohen served as Trump's personal lawyer and
self-described "fixer."
The relationship began to sour after FBI agents raided
Cohen's Rockefeller Center office and Park Avenue hotel room in
April 2018 as part of an investigation that grew out of Special
Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference
in the 2016 U.S. election. The information gathered in the raids
contributed to a series of criminal charges against Cohen that
caused his dramatic split with Trump.
Cohen publicly broke with Trump in July 2018, telling ABC
News he intended to put family and loyalty to his country ahead
of the president. Cohen and his wife, Laura Shusterman, 49, have
two adult children, Samantha and Jake.
'BLIND LOYALTY'
In congressional testimony in February in Washington, Cohen
said, "I am ashamed that I chose to take part in concealing Mr.
Trump's illicit acts rather than listening to my own conscience.
I am ashamed because I know what Mr. Trump is. He is a racist.
He is a con man. He is a cheat."
During his sentencing in December in New York, Cohen said,
"My weakness can be characterised as a blind loyalty to Donald
Trump, and I was weak for not having the strength to question
and to refuse his demands. I have already spent years living a
personal and mental incarceration."
Cohen said during his sentencing he would provide as much
information as he could to prosecutors about his former boss.
Trump, for this part, has blasted Cohen on Twitter, calling
him a "weak person" as well as a "bad lawyer and fraudster."
Cohen pleaded guilty in August 2018 to violating campaign
finance law, bank fraud and tax evasion in a case handled by
federal prosecutors in New York.
Prosecutors said Trump himself
directed illegal payments orchestrated by Cohen to adult film
star Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal to avert a
scandal shortly before the 2016 election.
Cohen told the court
Trump ordered a $130,000 payment to Daniels and a $150,000
payment to McDougal to keep them quiet.
Trump has denied sexual relationships with the women and
said he never directed Cohen to do anything illegal.
Cohen also pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about a
proposed Trump tower project in Russia that was being negotiated
at the same time he was running for president.
Prosecutors said Cohen provided false statements in
closed-door testimony to lawmakers to create the impression the
project had ended by the time the state-by-state Republican
presidential nomination race began, when in fact talks had
continued well beyond that point.
U.S. District Judge William Pauley in Manhattan sentenced
Cohen to three years in prison in both cases.
"Each of the crimes involved deception and each appears to
have been motivated by personal greed and ambition," Pauley said
at the sentencing hearing.
Cohen's prison time could be reduced by about 15% for
good behavior.