This archive report was first published on 27 June 2020.
On Friday, a federal judge granted Roger Stone, a 67-year-old veteran Republican operative and self-described 'dirty trickster,' a 14-day extension to report to prison by July 14, citing concerns about the coronavirus in Florida.
Stone, who lives in South Florida, was originally scheduled to report to a federal prison in Jesup, Georgia, by next Tuesday. However, with Florida experiencing rising numbers of coronavirus infections, the judge decided to grant the extension.
Stone was found guilty by a jury last November of obstruction, witness tampering, and lying to Congress under oath during its investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who sentenced him to three years and four months in prison in February, ordered Stone to be placed in home confinement, stating that this would 'address the defendant's stated medical concerns during the current increase of reported cases in Florida, and Broward County in particular, and it will respect and protect the health of other inmates who share defendant's anxiety over the potential introduction and spread of the virus at this now-unaffected facility.'
President Donald Trump, who has argued that Stone was treated unfairly, declined to answer directly when asked in a Fox News Channel interview on Thursday whether he would issue him a pardon.
Stone was one of several Trump associates who were convicted or pleaded guilty to charges stemming from former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation that detailed Russian meddling in the 2016 election to boost Trump's candidacy.
