{"id":212639,"date":"2019-05-03T20:35:05","date_gmt":"2019-05-04T00:35:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=212639"},"modified":"2019-05-03T20:35:05","modified_gmt":"2019-05-04T00:35:05","slug":"cohens-prison-reality-a-bunk-bed-in-barrack-style-hall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/05\/03\/cohens-prison-reality-a-bunk-bed-in-barrack-style-hall\/","title":{"rendered":"Cohen’s prison reality: A bunk bed in barrack style hall"},"content":{"rendered":"
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FILE: NEW YORK CITY – APRIL 16 2018: Donald Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen & adult film star, Stormy Daniels appeared in federal court in Lower Manhattan. Michael Cohen leaves court after hearing (a katz \/ Shutterstock.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

NEW YORK \u2013 \u201cThe Situation\u201d and the Fyre Festival fraudster are already there. President Donald Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, is up next.<\/p>\n

It’s not reality TV. It’s a federal prison 70 miles (113 kilometres) from New York City where white-collar and D-list scoundrels can do time while playing bocce ball and noshing on rugelach.<\/p>\n

Cohen, 53, is due to report Monday to the Federal Correctional Institution, Otisville to start a three-year sentence for tax evasion, lying to Congress and campaign finance crimes.<\/p>\n

Tucked in the lush countryside south of the Catskill Mountains, Otisville is actually two federal facilities with a total of about 800 inmates: a medium-security prison where former NFL star Darren Sharper is serving a 20-year rape sentence, and a satellite camp for non-violent offenders like Cohen.<\/p>\n

There, he’ll be serving his sentence with the likes of \u201cJersey Shore\u201d star-turned-tax fraud convict Michael \u201cThe Situation\u201d Sorrentino and Fyre Festival’s Billy McFarland.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Bureau of Prisons, which runs the federal prison system, has been tight-lipped about Cohen’s placement. The agency denied a reporter’s request to tour the Otisville facility and declined to comment for this article.<\/p>\n

The camp does have its allure. About 115 inmates sleep in bunks lined up in barrack-style halls, instead of individual or two-man cells like in higher-security facilities. There are lockers to store personal belongings, washers and dryers for laundry, microwaves to heat up food and ice machines to keep cool.<\/p>\n

Alums include accountant Kenneth Starr, who was accused of bilking celebrities like Uma Thurman with bad investments, and former Cendant chairman Walter Forbes and ex-Connecticut Gov. John Rowland. New York Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff wanted to go to Otisville, but the Bureau of Prisons sent him to North Carolina instead.<\/p>\n

Otisville is also known as a favourite among prison-bound Jews for its Kosher meals and Shabbat services.<\/p>\n

Add in recreational amenities like tennis courts, horseshoes and cardio equipment, and it sounds like the closest thing the federal prison system has to sleepaway camp.<\/p>\n

Forbes once ranked Otisville as one of \u201cAmerica’s 10 Cushiest Prisons,\u201d but former employees and inmates say it’s hardly \u201cClub Fed.\u201d Inmates are still doing time and they’re still separated from their families and friends \u2013 save for occasional visits.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrison is disrespectful. It’s impersonal,\u201d said former Otisville case manager Jack Donson. \u201cHe’s never going to get any sleep because there’s always lights on, there’s always inmates snoring. There are officers walking around jingling keys. You shower out in the open. It’s very demeaning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cohen could also be a target of bullying, harassment or worse for his co-operation with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation and other probes, and that could make him a candidate for the prison’s protective housing unit, said Donson. Trump himself has branded Cohen a \u201crat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Factor in the camp’s design \u2013 off a secluded two-lane road, without much fencing or security \u2013 and Cohen could find himself easily harassed by paparazzi or ambushed by someone looking to do harm, said Donson.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe’s not a good fit,\u201d said Donson.<\/p>\n

Cameron Lindsay, a retired warden who oversaw Otisville as deputy regional director of the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, said he would \u201cthink long and hard about placing Cohen in a general population, at least in the beginning,\u201d given the \u201cintense media coverage and extreme type of support the president receives from some of his supporters.\u201d<\/p>\n

A prison handbook advises inmates to carry themselves in a \u201cconfident manner at all times,\u201d to trust their instincts and to \u201cchoose your associates wisely.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cohen’s first stop at Otisville will be admission and orientation.<\/p>\n

He’ll undergo medical and mental health screenings and be assigned a job. He’ll also get a set of clothing, trading in his sport coats and zip ups for khaki shirts and pants, and a set of bedding and towels.<\/p>\n

Within a month, he’ll be classified and given recommendations for prison programs. Some inmates go to drug education or take classes to earn a high school-equivalent diploma.<\/p>\n

As for a typical day: During the week, it’s lights on at 6 a.m., followed by breakfast. Work duties, such as mowing the grounds or cleaning up the prison, are performed from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., with a break for lunch at 11. Dinner is served beginning at 4:15 p.m. It’s lights out at 11:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

On the weekend, inmates get to sleep in. Lights on isn’t until 7 a.m.<\/p>\n

Otisville, within 35 miles (56 kilometres) of the Orthodox Jewish communities of Kiryas Joel and Monsey, is \u201cdefinitely sought out by Jewish offenders,\u201d said Matthew Perry, executive director of Jewish Prisoner Services International.<\/p>\n

The commissary sells more than 100 kosher items, more than most federal prisons. (Matzo goes for $3.15 and gefilte fish costs $5.15. Need a yarmulke? It’s $6). A rabbi on staff full-time leads the chaplainry. At Passover, the prison puts on an elaborate Seder.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt really makes a difference if you’re Jewish because a lot of guys want to say certain prayers you can only say with 10 Jewish men,\u201d said Lawrence Dressler, a former Otisville prisoner who served 18 months for mortgage fraud, referring to the Jewish quorum known as a minyan. \u201cYou have Sabbath services on Friday night, and the prison even allows inmates to bring in food from the outside.\u201d<\/p>\n

All Jewish holidays are observed, Dressler said, including Hanukkah, when men gather in the chapel to sing. \u201cEveryone had their own menorah,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Dressler, who like Cohen was a lawyer before his conviction, predicted Cohen will largely be left alone at Otisville \u2013 unless he’s seen as a rat.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe’ll make a few friends,\u201d Dressler said. \u201cEveryone ends up having a couple of good friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

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