30-day delay in Roger Stone beginning prison sentence due to COVID-19
Sources with direct knowledge tell ABC News that the Federal Bureau of Prisons late Wednesday advised Roger Stone’s team that they plan to delay his surrender date to begin his prison sentence by at least 30 days because of COVID-19.
Stone's lawyer Seth Ginsberg confirmed Thursday to ABC News that BOP said it would delay the surrender date by at least a month. Stone's surrender date was supposed to take place no sooner than 14 days after a federal judge in Washington, D.C., ruled on the motion for a new trial, which she did April 16.
Asked for comment, BOP told ABC News that as a policy, it does not provide information on the date or location that an individual who is not in custody may enter into BOP custody.
Two weeks ago, and months after Stone's sentencing to more than three years in prison on Feb. 20, Judge Amy Berman Jackson denied the veteran GOP political operative’s bid for a new trial based on alleged juror misconduct, writing in her decision that "the conviction is final, and that Stone failed to "[supply] any reason to believe that there has been 'a serious miscarriage of justice.'"
Stone’s bid for a new trial came just days before Judge Jackson sentenced him to 40 months in prison amid speculation about a possible pardon from Stone's longtime friend, President Donald Trump.
Lawyers for Stone filed their notice of appeal late Thursday -- the last day for them to do so. Attorneys representing Stone on appeal, David Schoen and Ginsberg, wrote that Stone is appealing Judge Jackson's judgement in his criminal case imposing his sentencing, and the judge's recent order denying Stone's bid for a new trial.
In November 2019, Stone, 67, was convicted of misleading congressional investigators on several key elements of their probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, including communications he had with the Trump campaign about the WikiLeaks dissemination of damaging documents stolen from Democrats.
According to the sources, Stone has been given a prison designation by BOP. At Stone's sentencing in February, Jackson recommended Stone serve his sentence as close as possible to his family in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
