Roger Stone wanted to delay his prison term. The Justice Department wants him in jail next week.

The Justice Department has changed its mind on Roger Stone's coming imprisonment.

Stone, an ally of President Trump convicted of seven felony counts in charges stemming from the Mueller investigation, previously requested to delay the start of his prison term for 60 days due to the COVID-19 pandemic. DOJ prosecutors in Stone's case backed his request initially, but reversed that in a Thursday court filing.

Judge Amy Berman Jackson agreed to a two-week pushback of Stone's sentence in late June, but denied the delay until Sept. 3 that Stone had requested. Stone's lawyers then appealed the decision to a higher court. Federal prosecutors said in their Thursday filing that they supported Jackson's denial of Stone's request, and asked the appeals court to back up her decision.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Stone was sentenced to 40 months in prison earlier this year for witness tampering and making false statements to Congress, among other charges. His lawyers sought to push back the start date of that sentence, citing "the COVID-19 pandemic and the medically documented life-threatening health risks that Stone would face if incarcerated at this time."

Facebook announced Wednesday it took down dozens of accounts, pages, and Instagram accounts it found to be connected to Stone, largely claiming he is innocent of his crimes.