Cohen, 52, reported to the Federal Correctional Institution, Otisville, a federal prison in the countryside 70 miles northwest of New York City. A minimum-security prison camp there has become a haven for white-collar criminals.
Speaking to reporters as he left his New York City apartment Monday morning, Cohen denounced “xenophobia, injustice and lies at the helm of our country,” and said, “There still remains much to be told.”
“I look forward to the day (when) I can share the truth,” he said.
Michael Cohen holds a brief news conference as he begins his drive to report to prison: "There still remains much to be told and I look forward to the day that I can share the truth." pic.twitter.com/1306f2Zjmu
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) May 6, 2019
Once he gets to prison, Cohen will undergo medical and mental health screenings and be assigned a job, such as mowing the grounds or cleaning up the visiting room. He'll also get sets of clothing, bedding and towels.
At the prison camp, about 115 inmates sleep in bunks lined up in barrack-style halls, instead of individual or two-man cells like in higher-security facilities. Recreational amenities include tennis courts, horseshoes and bocce ball.
Cohen was initially scheduled to report to authorities in early March, but a judge agreed to delay his surrender as he recovered from shoulder surgery and got his affairs in order. Last year, he admitted to lying to Congress in connection to a Trump Tower deal in Moscow after prosecutors with special counsel Robert Mueller’s team charged him with making false statements.
He also pleaded guilty in August to eight charges including multiple counts of tax evasion and arranging illicit payments to silence women who posed a risk to Trump's presidential campaign.
Cohen once famously claimed he’d take a bullet for Trump, but he broke with the president in 2017 after agreeing to cooperate with federal investigators probing allegations of Russian election meddling and its possible ties to Trump and his campaign officials. Mueller's probe ended in March after 22 months of investigation and found no evidence Trump or his campaign officials colluded with Russia to win the election.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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