U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson on Friday delayed Roger Stone’s surrender date until July 14, after his attorneys had requested an extension into September, due to coronavirus concerns.
The Department of Justice did not oppose Stone’s request to report to the Bureau of Prisons on Sept. 3, instead of June 30, according to court documents. Jackson, however, only granted Stone’s motion in part, allowing him an extra 14 days to get his affairs in order.
By the time Stone surrenders, it will have been 75 days since his original report date. In addition, Jackson ruled that the conditions of his release be changed to include home confinement.
Stone’s attorneys argued their client was operating under “exceptional circumstances arising from the serious and possibly deadly risk he would face in the close confines of a Bureau of Prisons facility, based on his age and medical conditions,” their motion read. “The threat of exposure, given the current status of COVID-19 within BOP facilities and the lack of testing, is compelling.”
His lawyers also claimed the Bureau of Prisons couldn’t meet the proper CDC guidelines needed to keep an older man like Stone physically healthy.
TRUMP TAUNTS ROGER STONE PROSECUTORS WHO ‘CUT AND RAN’ FROM CASE
Stone, 67, was convicted in November 2019 on charges of obstruction of justice, false statements, and witness tampering, which all stemmed from Robert Mueller’s Russia probe. He was sentenced to 40 months in prison back in February.
Stone had made two requests for a new trial, following revelations about the possible political bias of one of the jurors in his first case. Both motions were ultimately denied.
Stone appeared on the 360aproko “Lou Dobbs Tonight” on Friday and asked President Trump to commute his sentence or to grant him a federal pardon.
“I’m just grateful the Justice Department has not opposed my motion, based on humanitarian reasons and because of concerns regarding my health, to delay my incarceration,” he began.
Stone added, “I think this is a death sentence. I don’t think I will live to see my appeal succeed, which is why I have been very forthright about my praying that the president acts, either with a commutation of my sentence so I may follow my appeal and win vindication or of course, a pardon. That’s completely within his power, but I would call on him to do it on humanitarian grounds as an act of both mercy and justice. I’ve exhausted my legal remedies, I’m out of money. This has taken everything I have. My family’s essentially indigent. This has been the worst week of my life. I’m exhausted.”
