Manafort to be transferred to Rikers Island, may face solitary confinement: report

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort will reportedly be transferred as early as this week to the Rikers Island jail complex in New York City, where he’ll likely face solitary confinement, The New York Times reported.

Manafort, 70, will likely be arraigned on new state fraud charges and will reportedly be held in solitary confinement for his own safety, Fox News reports. He could be moved as early as Thursday.{mosads}

Rikers Island contains nine facilities in the state’s jail system holding 7,500 inmates, the Times reported. The Rikers jails have been said to struggle with violence and management issues.

Manafort is serving a 7 1/2-year prison sentence in Pennsylvania.

In September, Manafort pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy charges as part of a deal with prosecutors, but the Manhattan district attorney announced in March an indictment charging Manafort with 16 state felonies, such as residential mortgage fraud.

President Trump has the power to issue pardons for federal crimes, but this authority doesn’t apply to state-level cases.

Trump hasn’t said he’ll pardon Manafort, but he’s praised him as a “brave man,” the Times reported.