No longer will the lobbyist, political consultant and lawyer enjoy the freedom of kissing his wife, hugging his children or petting his dog. A peaceful nights sleep is also off the table along with popping open his refrigerator to chug a cold a beer or enjoy a yogurt.
While his long time friends and family are out celebrating Fathers Day, Manafort is likely scared, depressed and powerless over his circumstances. He will be confined to his cell 23 hrs per day and allowed phone calls once a week.
Manafort will not have the luxury of a bathroom in his master suite but will now sit on a steel toilet, have a top bunk and have the lights beaming in his cell from 6 A.M. until 10:00 PM
The ability to prepare his case will also be cumbersome. His new legal team Wilmer Hale will now undergo the troublesome process of being processed into the jail and finding a place inside equipped to have the privacy needed for such a high profile case.
Noise, smells, inconveniences, depleted resources and what society considers its bottom dwellers are the new norm. If he decides to flip for team Mueller the men housed in his cell block will really make his life miserable with threats and name calling. After all, they will be glued to the television and following his case as close as his family, former business partners, potential and future codefendants.
As a black man I can honestly say that it’s sad for prison to be considered a rights of passage in poor communities and not snitching be hailed as a badge of honor. Manafort is not cut from that cloth. His lifestyle has gone from 120 to 3 miles per hour. I stunk at math but I do understand this formula. Being nearly 70 years old and looking down the nose of the prison barrel after living a life of wealth, privilege and private gates in comparison to prison, monitored 15 minute phone calls, bad food, violence and reality that Manafort will die in prison due to a lengthy federal and future state sentence equals cooperation.
Today marks his first holiday in prison and holidays are major heartbreakers for the newly incarcerated. Fathers Day will likely be tougher on his family then himself and they will definitely let him know. If he’s not cooperating by the Fourth of July he will launch fireworks before Labor Day. Get your popcorn ready. Hollywood can’t script what’s coming down the pipe.