Weinstein sentenced to 23 years in landmark rape, assault case

NEW YORK (AP) — Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison for rape and sexual assault.

It’s a sight the Hollywood mogul’s multitude of accusers thought they would never see. Weinstein was convicted last month of raping a woman in a New York City hotel room in 2013 and forcibly performing oral sex on another woman at his apartment in 2006.

He faced a minimum of 5 years and a maximum of 29 years in prison for raping an aspiring actress in 2013 and forcibly performing oral sex on a TV and film production assistant in 2006. Both women that Weinstein was convicted of assaulting spoke in court Wednesday before Judge James Burke announced the sentence.

A second criminal case is pending in California.

Other women who’ve accused Weinstein — including some who testified at his trial — were not permitted to speak at his sentencing under state law. One of those witnesses, Tarale Wulff, who accused Weinstein of raping her in 2005, said in a statement Tuesday that she would still attend and hopes that the sentence “sends a clear message that times have changed.”

Weinstein was convicted on two counts: criminal sex act for the 2006 assault on the production assistant and rape in the third degree for a 2013 attack on another woman. On the criminal sex act count, he faced a minimum of five years in prison and a maximum of 25 years in prison, while the third-degree rape count carries a maximum penalty of four years in prison.

Weinstein was acquitted of first-degree rape and two counts of predatory sexual assault stemming from actress Annabella Sciorra’s allegations of a mid-1990s rape. Weinstein maintains his innocence and contends that any sexual activity was consensual.

Newly unsealed documents show the 67-year-old former film producer sought help from billionaires Jeff Bezos and Michael Bloomberg as sexual misconduct allegations against him piled up in October 2017, and that he considered issuing a statement at the time claiming that he was suicidal. There is no evidence to suggest either man responded.

The New York case was the first criminal matter against Weinstein to arise from accusations of more than 90 women, including actresses Gwyneth Paltrow, Salma Hayek and Uma Thurman. Many of Weinstein’s accusers say he used his Hollywood prestige to befriend them, dangling movie roles to gain their trust.

Weinstein’s lawyers were seeking the minimum sentence of five years in prison because of his age and frail health.

Weinstein, who turns 68 next week, used a walker throughout the trial following recent back surgeries. After his Feb. 24 conviction, he split time between a hospital and a jail infirmary unit, and had a stent inserted last week to unblock an artery.

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"Given his age and specific medical risk factors, any additional term of imprisonment above the mandatory minimum — although the grave reality is that Mr. Weinstein may not even outlive that term — is likely to constitute a de facto life sentence,” Weinstein’s lawyers wrote in a sentencing memorandum filed Monday.

Weinstein will now be transferred from the city’s jail system to the state prison system. The agency that runs New York’s state prisons said every inmate is evaluated to determine which facility meets his or her security, medical, mental health and other needs.

Martin Horn, the city’s former corrections commissioner, said Weinstein’s celebrity status could make him a target for another inmate looking to make a name for himself, while the gravity of his convictions and sentence could raise suicide concerns.

Weinstein was charged in California with raping a woman at a Los Angeles hotel on Feb. 18, 2013, after pushing his way inside her room, then sexually assaulting a woman in a Beverly Hills hotel suite the next night.

Harvey Weinstein found guilty in landmark #MeToo moment

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