The Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York.Photo: Ryland West/ALM

Three members of New York's congressional delegation Friday urged the federal Bureau of Prisons to significantly reduce the number of inmates at two New York jails and called for "aggressive and immediate" steps to prevent the facilities from becoming "epicenters of COVID-19 contagion." 

The call from Democratic Reps. Jerrold Nadler, Hakeem Jeffries and Nydia Velázquez came as officials had begun taking steps elsewhere within the vast federal prison system to release inmates, including Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former lawyer and fixer, to home confinement amid the pandemic.

In a letter to BOP Director Michael Carvajal, the lawmakers said there was "ample cause for alarm" at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center and the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan, which hold a combined 2,400 federal inmates. 

"Available information indicates that there are serious problems related to COVID-19 at these facilities," the letter said. "To get a better understanding of what is taking place there and to conduct oversight concerning your actions, we now seek answers to some key questions regarding both facilities."

The wardens of both jails, in court-mandated filings, have reported consistently low levels of coronavirus testing since U.S. District Chief Judge Roslynn R. Mauskopf of the Eastern District of New York earlier this month ordered that they provide twice-weekly updates on mitigation measures and rates of infection at the two jails. 

As of Thursday, just 19 inmates at MDC and MCC had received coronavirus tests, with 10 testing positive for COVID-19.

The letter asked Carvajal to explain why more tests were not being administered and how many inmates had been taken to the hospital since Trump declared a national emergency March 13. It also sought additional details on screening and quarantining measures at the jails, as well as steps taken to separate inmates from sickened staff working at the facility.

According to the BOP, 38 MDC and MCC employees had tested positive for COVID-19, up from the 21 staff who had been infected as of April 9.

Attorney General William Barr on March 26 directed the BOP to prioritize older and medically at-risk prisoners to serve out the remainder of their sentences from home confinement due to the pandemic. The Federal Defenders of New York, however, have said that the directive did not go far enough to protect inmates in federal jails, most of whom have not yet been sentenced, let alone tried, for their alleged crimes.

Manhattan federal prosecutors Wednesday said the BOP had approved Dean Skelos, the former New York state Senate majority leader, for release after he tested positive for the coronavirus at FCI Otisville. 

According to media reports, Cohen, Trump's former lawyer who was convicted in a scheme to make hush-money payments to women who had accused the president of engaging in extramarital affairs, had also been approved for release from the same facility in upstate New York. 

The New York Times reported Friday that Cohen would serve out the rest of his three-year prison sentence from home, after completing a 14-day quarantine period. His sentence is set to run through November 2021. 

Cohen's lawyer, Roger Adler, who the reports cited as the source of the information, declined to confirm the accuracy of the reporting Friday, saying that "my commitment to my client precludes comment."

The BOP said Friday that a "majority" of the inmates at Otisville's satellite camp were being moved to the main facility for screening to determine their suitability for home confinement or furlough. While some of the inmates may not ultimately qualify, they were being "proactively" placed in quarantine to expedite their potential release, the BOP said.

"Many of these inmates are minimum security and minimum risk for recidivism, which are qualifications under the attorney general's guidance to BOP," a spokeswoman said in a statement.

The BOP has said that a total of 473 federal inmates and 279 staff nationwide had tested positive for the coronavirus, including at least 14 inmates and seven staff members at Otisville.

Lawsuits involving the treatment and containment of COVID-19 at the MDC and MCC are ongoing in the Eastern District of New York. The Federal Defenders have said access to legal calls has been an issue at both facilities since physical visits were shut down due to the pandemic, but in a status conference Friday, all parties agreed that the MDC has improved its ability to facilitate calls in the past week.

Sean Hecker of Kaplan Hecker & Fink, who is working with the Federal Defenders, said the MCC has not improved as much, and neither facility is connecting inmates with their lawyers 100% of the time.

"We have not been perfect in any respect, but we are trying very hard," said Jeffrey Oestericher, chief of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York's civil division.

In a separate case, Homer Venters, former chief medical officer of New York City jails, is expected to inspect the MDC on Thursday. He'll visit isolation and quarantine units along with other spaces inside the facility during a three-hour visit, the parties agreed during a status conference Friday.

Venters is expected to be accompanied by attorneys representing MDC inmates and the MDC warden, and their tour of the spaces will be ordered in a specific way to prevent cross-contamination, Assistant U.S. Attorney James Cho of the Eastern District of New York said Friday.

Read More;

Ex-Senate Leader Dean Skelos Expected to Be Released From Prison After Positive Test for COVID-19

Brooklyn Federal Lockup Officials Describe 'Shortage of Tests' in New Filing

Discovery in Federal Habeas Case Could Send Medical Inspector Into Brooklyn Lockup, Lawyers Say