Anne Pollard’s troubled stay in federal prison has finally ended.
Pollard was released to a Manhattan halfway house Monday afternoon, after serving two years and eight months of her five-year sentence in federal prison.
She was convicted for crimes related to the activities of her husband, Jonathan Pollard, who is serving a life sentence for spying for Israel.
“If I wasn’t so sick, I would be feeling elated,” she said Tuesday in a telephone interview, adding that the management of the halfway house seems “wonderful.”
Pollard suffers from biliary dyskinesia, a rare gastro-intestinal disorder, which she and her family claim has worsened from inadequate care during her imprisonment. She said she has been feeling especially ill over the past several weeks.
Her new life in Manhattan will include a full-time job working for her father’s public relations firm, Bergert, Henderson, Schechter, Smith. She said she will be working on a number of accounts, among them the National Coalition of American Nuns, whose newsletter she will be producing.
“I want to get on with my life and my work,” said Pollard, who was a public relations professional before her imprisonment.
WILL WORK ON HUSBAND’S BEHALF
Much of her time and attention, however, will be focused on “Justice for the Pollards,” an organization that raises funds for the couple’s legal fees her medical expenses.
Pollard said she is determined to win her husband’s “freedom and vindication” and will pursue all possible ways in which to achieve that. She plans to speak publicly about the case and hopes to meet with both American and Israeli politicians.
Pollard is confined to Hopper House, located on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, from 9 p.m. until 6 a.m. during the week, and is required to remain within a 50-mile radius of the facility at all times. Her stay at Hopper House will end in March, when she is due to be released on parole.
She will be eligible for regular weekend furloughs after a few weeks at the halfway house, and is being permitted to stay with her family Wednesday night for the Thanksgiving holiday.
“I am grateful,” she said, “to be able to have Thanksgiving with my family.”
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