Politics Politics & Government News Ex-Trump Lawyer Michael Cohen Returns to NYC Apartment After Release from Prison Due to COVID-19 Michael Cohen will serve the remainder of his three-year sentence at home By Sean Neumann Sean Neumann Sean Neumann is a reporter at PEOPLE. He has been working at PEOPLE since 2019. His work has previously appeared in Rolling Stone, The New York Times, ESPN, and more. People Editorial Guidelines Published on May 21, 2020 01:33PM EDT Michael Cohen arrives at his Manhattan apartment, in New York on May 21, 2020. Photo: John Minchillo/AP/Shutterstock President Donald Trump's former attorney, Michael Cohen, was released from federal prison on Thursday morning and will serve the rest of his three-year sentence from home, his spokesperson tells PEOPLE. Cohen, 53, arrived back at his New York City apartment wearing a dark blazer, a protective face mask and a University of Miami baseball cap. He was released because of the growing concern about coronavirus outbreaks in prisons. "I am so glad to be home and back with my family," Cohen tweeted early Thursday afternoon. "There is so much I want to say and intend to say. But now is not the right time. Soon. Thank you to all my friends and supporters." Cohen, who once described himself as Trump's "fixer," went from the president's friend to foe after cooperating with federal authorities on investigations into the 2016 election. Cohen was sentenced to three years in federal prison in late 2018 after telling authorities he helped coordinate hush payments to a number of women on Trump's behalf, including to Stormy Daniels, in an effort to keep the president's past alleged affairs quiet ahead of the election. The president's longtime lawyer, who represented Trump from 2006 until 2018, also pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about a Russian real estate project the president was working to complete during his 2016 campaign. Trump's 2016 election bid has been investigated for alleged ties to Russian interference, which critics claim helped the president win the historic, shocking election. Rosie O'Donnell Opens Up About Surprising Trump-Related Project: Giving His Ex-Lawyer Advice on a Tell-All Michael Cohen arrives back at his New York City apartment Thursday morning after being released from federal prison. He will serve the remainder of his three-year sentence from home, a spokesperson tells PEOPLE. JUSTIN LANE/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Cohen has reportedly been writing a tell-all memoir about his days working for Trump while he's been in prison over the last year. According to actress and famed Trump rival, Rosie O'Donnell, the former attorney's tell-all is "pretty spicy." The pair's unlikely friendship started over personal letters while Cohen was in prison and ended in O'Donnell visiting him at the Federal Correctional Institution, Otisville, in upstate New York to offer writing advice as the president's ex-lawyer continues to work on the project. “He told me what chapters he was doing in his book, and on my way home, I was writing about what had happened between us, and I gave him my breakdown of things that should be in chapters,” O’Donnell, 58, told The Daily Beast earlier this month. “I said, ‘You should tell this story as a chapter, you should tell this story as a chapter.’ He’s in the midst of writing it, and is nearly done writing it, and hopes that it’ll be out before the election.” Trump's Ex-Lawyer Michael Cohen Joins Jersey Shore Star & Fyre Festival Founder in Prison Trump called Cohen a "rat" in late 2018 as his former lawyer testified against him ahead of his two convictions. Last year, the president dismissed Cohen as a "bad lawyer" and a "fraudster." Cohen had also served as the vice president of the Trump Organization before their relationship soured under the weight of federal investigations. “I take full responsibility for each act that I pled guilty to,” Cohen said upon pleading guilty in 2018. “The personal ones to me and those involving the President of the United States of America.” Following his sentencing last May, Cohen told reporters outside his New York City apartment that he planned to speak out extensively about his dealings with Trump after he was released from prison. “I hope that when I rejoin my family and friends, that the country will be in a place without xenophobia, injustice and lies at the helm of our country,” Cohen told reporters before heading off to. “There still remains much to be told, and I look forward to the day that I can share the truth.” As information about the coronavirus pandemic rapidly changes, PEOPLE is committed to providing the most recent data in our coverage. 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