Quick fact check on the “today is the day that I am getting my freedom back” part: no. Cohen and his lawyers leaned into this angle, however, characterizing his crimes as service to a corrupt employer rather than personal failings.

During sentencing, however, Judge Pauley seemed to side with the prosecution’s characterization of Cohen, saying that the lawyer “thrived on his access to wealthy and powerful people,” and became one himself.

Part of Cohen’s plea for leniency involved touting his cooperation with prosecutors in the Special Counsel investigation led by Robert Mueller. However, while Special Counsel prosecutors noted that Cohen had provided “useful information,” he did not have a cooperation deal as part of his guilty plea to the SDNY, and did not cooperate fully with prosecutors, refusing to answer some questions about his own involvement.

Pauley recommended that Cohen serve his time in Otisville, a medium-security federal prison a few hours northwest of New York City that’s been ranked as one of the cushiest prisons in America.