Getty Images / Spencer Platt
Harvey Weinstein has been sentenced to 23 years in prison for rape and sexual assault, The New York Times reports. He was sentenced today, Wednesday, March 11, in a verdict that underlines a two-year plummet from Hollywood tycoon to convicted rapist.
Justice James A. Burke, who oversaw the State Supreme Court trial in Manhattan, could have dealt Weinstein as little as five years and a maximum of 29, so this result marks a major milestone in the #MeToo movement. What's more, considering his 67-years, this means Weinstein will likely spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Before his sentencing, Weinstein reportedly told Burke. "I am totally confused. I think men are confused about all of this ... this feeling of thousands of men and women who are losing due process, I'm worried about this country."
Weinstein was convicted on two counts of rape in February. The jury found him guilty of raping aspiring actress Jessica Man in 2013 and forcibly performing oral sex on production assistant Miriam Haley in 2006.
All the women who testified against Weinstein in the trail were in the courtroom today for the verdict, CNBC reports. Prosecutor Joan Illuzzi said, "He has been using and abusing people his whole life."
#MiriamHaley addressed the court at #HarveyWeinstein's sentencing:
"He had crushed a part of my spirit. If he was not convicted of rape & sexual assault by this jury it would have happened again & again. I'm relieved there are women who are safer because he is not out there."
- Jan Ransom (@Jan_Ransom) March 11, 2020
Jessica Mann referenced the day she left court screaming at trial. "The day my uncontrollable screams were heard from the witness room, was the day my whole voice came back into my power," she said, referring to them as the screams she didn't make the day of the assault.
- James Queally (@JamesQueallyLAT) March 11, 2020
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