Bill Cosby is not eligible for a temporary release from prison under a new order from Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf that at-risk inmates be temporarily reprieved to help stop the spread of COVID-19, the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections and the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office told TheWrap.
As outlined in Wolf’s order, which was issued last Friday and released the first group of inmates on Wednesday, the program does not apply to those convicted or sentenced for “a crime of violence, or any criminal attempt, criminal solicitation, or criminal conspiracy to commit a crime of violence.” The 82-year-old former actor was sentenced in 2018 to three to 10 years in prison after a jury convicted him of aggravated indecent assault based on the account of Andrea Constand, a former Temple University employee who said Cosby drugged and molested her.
On Thursday, his publicist issued a press release suggesting that Cosby’s team expected he would be released and remanded to house arrest soon under the governor’s order because he was a “non-violent elderly” inmate.
“Mr. Cosby is not eligible under Gov. Wolf’s order since he was convicted of a violent offense (aggravated indecent assault) and was determined to be a Sexually Violent Predator,” a spokesperson for the D.A.’s office told TheWrap.
“No, despite what his publicist says, Cosby is not eligible,” a spokesperson for the DOC also said.
Cosby — who has been accused by at least 60 women of sexual assault — is serving out his sentence at SCI Phoenix, a 3,830-bed facility in Collegeville, Pennsylvania. In a wide-ranging interview given last year to Black Press USA, Cosby said he had no “remorse” for his actions and claimed his trial was a “set up.”
“When I come up for parole, they’re not going to hear me say that I have remorse. I was there. I don’t care what group of people come along and talk about this when they weren’t there. They don’t know,” he said.
Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.