Paul Manafort had been expected to be transferred from a federal prison in Pennsylvania to a detention facility in New York ahead of an expected arraignment to face New York charges.The U.S. Justice Department has decided to keep convicted felon Paul Manafort in federal custody, it said on Tuesday, citing concerns about the “health and personal safety” of President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman if he was transferred to a local facility in New York.
In a statement, a senior Justice Department official said Manafort’s attorneys told the Bureau of Prisons they were concerned about “his health and personal safety” if he was in local custody. New York state prosecutors did not object to the move, which would still make Manafort available to the state when needed, the official said.
Most federal inmates facing charges in New York City are held at the city’s scandal-ridden Rikers island jail complex that handles about 9,000 people a day, another city jail known as the Tombs, or Bellevue Hospital, which can accommodate defendants with medical conditions, according to the New York Times.
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance’s case appears largely tied to some of the same conduct covered in Manafort’s federal case, including applications for mortgages secured by properties in New York, but his office could argue an exception is warranted.
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