Although many inmates throughout the country are being sent home due to the threat of coronavirus and the increasing number of cases in prisons, Bill Cosby isn't going anywhere, officials say.
The news comes after Cosby's rep hinted that the disgraced comedian would be released due to the pandemic.
Last week, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf ordered the Department of Corrections within the state to move some prisoners to community corrections facilities or to their homes. At the time, Cosby's team felt as though "America's Dad" was an all-but-automatic candidate.
Cosby's rep told Page Six, "We strongly feel that Mr. Cosby will be released and remanded to house arrest in the upcoming weeks. Mr. Cosby is 82 years old; Mr. Cosby has an underlying medical condition — blindness" — and cannot practice "social distancing because he has to rely on the aid of others."
The rep added that Cosby's team had been "in contact with sources close to [the] governor and they were informed that Gov. Wolf felt that Mr. Cosby should be released and remanded to house arrest, due to his age and blindness."
Unfortunately for Cosby and his team, their wishes won't be granted.
"Based on the criteria exempting sex offenders and knowing his highly publicized case, he would not qualify," a rep for the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections told Page Six.
According to the governor's office, the program "applies to state prison inmates who have been identified as being nonviolent and who otherwise would be eligible for release within the next nine months or who are considered at high risk for complications of coronavirus and are within 12 months of their release."
Cosby is currently serving a three to 10 year sentence at the SCI Phoenix prison facility for drugging and sexually assaulting onetime friend Andrea Constand in his home 16 years ago. At his high-profile trial, several women testified that he did similar things to them over the years.
According to reports, 22 inmates at SCI Phoenix have tested positive for Covid-19, and one inmate has died.