Disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, 67, has been sentenced to 23 years in prison for criminal sexual act in the first-degree against former production assistant Mimi Haleyi, and rape in the third-degree against former actress Jessica Mann.
Weinstein leveraged his professional and financial power to terrorize and silence women, prosecutors said. Dozens of women have made sexual misconduct claims against him, and the state called four other alleged victims to testify. Jurors only had to consider the Haleyi and Mann cases.
Weinstein faced up to 29 years behind bars–assuming he received the maximum for criminal sex act and was sentenced concurrently for the rape charge, which carried a possible four-year sentence. The prosecution said that the defendant engaged in a long-term pattern of abuse against many women.
The defense asked for the minimum of five years. They argued that mitigating factors included his age, bad health, and his relationship to his children. Weinstein’s team has described him as a flawed person who cheated on his wife. On Tuesday, Weinstein publicist Juda Engelmayer said the defendant admitted to treating people badly as a Hollywood producer, but the defendant was nonetheless innocent of criminal allegations.
“It’s hard to say regret for a criminal act, because you don’t want to do that,” Engelmayer told the Law&Crime Network’s Jesse Weber. “He’s facing an LA thing. There is no apology for a criminal act, but there’s an apology for being the kind of person he was.”
The spokesman said the appeal phase would begin after sentencing in the New York case. Appeals are par for the course in the criminal justice system, so there’s nothing unique about the Weinstein team’s stance. Nonetheless, as Engelmayer said, there is a pending criminal case out in Los Angeles for similar charges. The spokesman’s statements signal that the defense is going to fight charges over there despite the conviction in New York.
Matt Naham contributed to this report.
[Image via JOHANNES EISELE/AFP via Getty Images]
