Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen to report to prison

Michael Cohen on Monday will begin serving his prison sentence for arranging hush payments to two women who said they had sexual encounters with the president and lying to the U.S. Congress.

Cohen, the former personal attorney Trump, executive vice president of the Trump Organization and national deputy finance chairman of the Republican National Committee is set to report Monday to a federal prison, where he will begin serving a three-year sentence.

Cohen, must report by 2 p.m. (1800 GMT) to the Federal Correctional Institution in Otisville, New York, about 70 miles (110 km) northwest of New York City. He is expected to stay at the prison’s minimum security camp.

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.”

Cohen was initially set to begin his sentence March 6, but his attorneys argued successfully for his prison date to be pushed back by two months. Cohen has used those months -- and the ones since he pleaded guilty in August 2018 to tax evasion, false statements to a bank and campaign finance violations tied to hush money payments he made or orchestrated on behalf of Trump -- to turn on his former boss.

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.

In congressional testimony in February in Washington, Cohen said, “I am ashamed that I chose to take part in concealing Trump’s illicit acts rather than listening to my own conscience. I am ashamed because I know what Trump is. He is a racist. He is a con man. He is a cheat.”

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.