The Harvey Weinstein debacle continues. It’s just been confirmed that former film producer and Miramax co-founder Harvey Weinstein has been sentenced to 16 years in prison.
At 70 years of age, it seems like Harvey Weinstein will be spending the rest of his life in prison. The sentence was made on Thursday morning in Los Angeles. This comes almost two months after he was convicted of three counts of rape and sexual assault in his Los Angeles trial.
As shared via TMZ, however, Weinstein continues to deny the charges. He claims that he’s being “sued for money.” Here’s what his statement included:
“It is incredible to be convicted for a crime I wasn’t even present for. I am innocent. I never raped or assaulted anyone. This person perjured herself at least three times and then sued for money, when she said on the stand that she would ‘never’. I was never with her. Her entire claim thing was a setup for a money grab.”
A statement from Weinstein’s representative, Juda Engelmayer, echoes these sentiments:
“It’s a cruel sentence, given his age, his health and the conditions of his conviction in Los Angeles, when the sole charge was from a person who lied, with the judge and prosecutor well aware of it and permitting it, about critical elements of her own claim.”
The former producer is already in the midst of serving a 23-year sentence he received for a 2020 rape conviction in New York. As TMZ notes, however, “the state’s highest court has agreed to hear an appeal in that case.” As such, we’ll have to see how Weinstein’s case continues to evolve.
In the Los Angeles trial, Weinstein was sentenced by the judge with “8 years for the oral copulation charge, 6 years for the forcible penetration charge and 2 years for the rape charge.” Though the years will “run consecutively,” ultimately reaching the aforementioned 16-year sentence.
Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional updates regarding the Harvey Weinstein cases as we have them.