0 shares Michael Cohen, former attorney to President Donald Trump, leaves his apartment building before beginning his prison term, on May 6, 2019, in New York. (AP Photo/Kevin Hagen) NEW YORK (AP) — Michael Cohen, US President Donald Trump’s former lawyer, says he deserves early release from home confinement but federal authorities refuse to credit him for good behavior and hundreds of hours of work and prison courses completed behind bars. Cohen filed court papers Monday, contending that he “could be eligible for release in a matter of weeks or months” under the First Step Act, a sweeping criminal justice reform Trump signed into law in 2018.