Actor Bill Cosby’s lawyers have requested he be released from prison amid the coronavirus outbreak in the United States.
Cosby was sentenced to three to ten years at SCI Phoenix in Pennsylvania after being convicted of sexual assault, according to a report published Wednesday by Page Six.
“We believe it is only a matter of time before Mr. Cosby’s prison likely falls victim to the virus, such a confined space is the perfect place for a virus to spread rapidly, it is hazardous to the prison staff and vulnerable inmates,” the lawyers told the outlet.
“Bill Cosby is no detriment or danger to the community,” they added. “He can’t go anywhere, he is elderly, he is blind. He can stay under house arrest with an ankle bracelet, as he did before, with his wife taking care of him. Let him do his time at home.”
The motion for release comes after President Trump has began to consider releasing federal prisoners in order to reduce the risk of further spreading of COVID-19. (RELATED: Judge Slaps Down Michael Cohen’s Request To Leave Jail Because Of Coronavirus)
“We are now preparing a motion to ask the court and the state to release Mr. Cosby from prison and place him under house arrest for the duration of his sentence,” the lawyers said.
“We are not doing this because he is Bill Cosby, our concern is that he is 82, he is blind and has close contact with workers who take him to his medical appointments every day in a wheelchair, they take him for his meals and clean his cell. If they get infected they could pass it on to him,” they continued.
Cosby has a 9,000 square-foot residence in Pennsylvania where he lived while on house arrest after his conviction in 2018.