If you’ve been anywhere near the news for the past two years, the Michael Cohen name should certainly ring a few bells. He is the former close associate and attorney of US President Donald Trump, who admitted to committing a number of crimes on behalf of his former employer, including tax evasion, bank fraud and violations of campaign finance regulations.
Following his guilty plea, Cohen received a three-year sentence in federal prison and is expected to serve in prison as of May 2019. Read on as we share with you more facts you need to know about him.
Who is Michael Cohen?
The American lawyer is from Long Island.New York, United States. He was born on August 25, 1966 into the Jewish family of Maurice and Sondra Cohen. Interestingly, Michael Cohen comes from the lineage of professional health workers as his father was a surgeon and his mother was a nurse. His uncle was also a famous doctor who treated members of the Lucchese family.
Cohen grew up in the city of Lawrence, where he received his undergraduate education from Lawrence Woodmere Academy. He then attended American University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1988 before earning a Juris Doctor from Thomas M. Cooley Law School.
After graduating, Cohen started his career as a personal injury attorney working for Melvyn Estrin before eventually starting his own practice. During this time he also joined his family to run their taxi company, which operated in New York and Chicago. He later got into the real estate business and worked exclusively in the New York market.
Political career
In 2003, Michael Cohen ran for the New York City Council position from the Fourth Circuit as a Republican. Unfortunately, he was defeated by Eva S. Moskowitz. He then briefly campaigned for a seat in the New York Senate in 2010. Before the campaign, however, he had joined The Trump Organization in 2006.
Cohen became a huge fan of Trump and has persuaded his parents and business partners to own condos in Trump World Tower. This, in large part, made him Trump when the real estate billionaire named him chief operating officer of Affliction Entertainment, a mixed martial arts promotion company in which Trump had a significant stake.
A few years later, Cohen, who was now Trump’s personal attorney, used his loyalty and cruelty in 2016 when he arranged for the $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels. The woman who claimed to have had a sexual relationship with Trump 10 years ago. Shortly thereafter, he negotiated another payout to Karen McDougal. A former Playboy model who also claimed to have a romantic relationship with Trump. This stimulated negative public sentiment and gave him a bad reputation.
Two years later, the FBI raided Michael Cohen’s home and offices looking for evidence supporting the eight criminal charges against him. He later pleaded guilty in August 2018. As a result, he was sentenced to three years in prison and fined around $50,000.
Family life – wife and daughter
Michael Cohen is married and his wife is Laura Shusterman, a Ukrainian-born American. According to Trump’s biographer, it was Fima Shusterman, Ms. Cohen’s father, who introduced her husband to the 45th US President.
Cohen and Shusterman celebrated their union in 1994 and welcomed two children; a daughter named Samantha Blake Cohen and a son named Jake Cohen. Samantha is a model who graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2018 while Jake is still a bachelor from the University of Miami.
Wealth (income and earnings)
A successful entrepreneur and lawyer, Michael Cohen has earned a lifestyle of luxury, although he adapted to such a lifestyle at an early age, owning a Porsche while still in college. Since then he has been able to add a Bentley to his multi-million dollar car collection.
In terms of his net worth, Cohen is said to be worth around $1 million. However, that number has since decreased since he became involved in the political saga that will see him face jail time.
