Bill Cosby’s lawyers are filing a motion to spring him from his Pennsylvania jail cell and put him under house arrest amid reports that at least one prison officer has tested positive for coronavirus.
The 82-year-old is serving three to 10 years at SCI Phoenix in Montgomery County, and his lawyers in the process of petitioning the Pennsylvania Superior Court to get him moved, Page Six reports.
Cosby spokesman Andrew Wyatt told 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. Bill Cosby is no detriment or danger to the community. 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.”
He added: “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.”
The convicted sex offender lived under house arrest in his 9,000 square foot mansion in Elkins Park, PA with his wife Camille until being transferred to jail.
The Trump administration is considering the release of nonviolent federal prisoners to reduce the risk of a larger outbreak in prison. Harvey Weinstein, another famous offender, is in solitary after being found positive for coronavirus.