Harvey Weinstein, the disgraced movie mogul, was sentenced to 15 years in prison Wednesday for sexually assaulting former TV production assistant Miriam Haley, bringing another chapter to a legal odyssey that has spanned more than six years.<\/p>\n
Weinstein, 74, learned his fate in person inside a Manhattan courtroom, just a few feet from Haley. Haley was supported by about a dozen friends and other women who have made sexual assault allegations against Weinstein.<\/p>\n
The sentence also includes five years of post-release supervision.<\/p>\n
Before announcing the sentence, Judge Curtis Farber addressed Weinstein directly.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou will be remembered for the many wonderful films, but that will pale to what you have done, what you become, a sexual predator, the literal face of the #MeToo movement,\u201d Farber said.<\/p>\n
Farber said Weinstein has never accepted responsibility for his actions and noted that the former titan of the movie industry continues to release statements and interviews calling those who have accused him \u201cmoney hungry women who want to use him for fame or fortune.\u201d<\/p>\n
Haley read a victim impact statement to the court before Weinstein was sentenced. Fighting through tears at points during her eight-minute statement, Haley said she felt like she was the one on trial and that there were many moments over the years when she considered withdrawing from the case.<\/p>\n
She called the trial and retrial process the \u201cworst decision\u201d of her life.<\/p>\n
Haley said the defense\u2019s cross-examination was humiliating and belittling and that she became a target outside the courtroom. Haley and Assistant District Attorney Nicole Blumberg said Weinstein spent millions of dollars on intimidation tactics, including releasing videos and hiring private investigators to follow Haley.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving been sexually assaulted by Harvey Weinstein has had a devastating effect on my life and sense of security that may never go away. Making the decision to speak up will have me looking over my shoulder for years to come,\u201d Haley said. \u201cIt\u2019s a life sentence for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said the sexual assault by Weinstein was a life sentence for her and concluded her statement by saying: \u201cI will be looking over her shoulder for years to come, worried about what this man is plotting, from this man who has shown no remorse for what he has done and has shown no change.\u201d<\/p>\n
Weinstein then read his own statement to the court. His defense attorneys had asked the judge to consider a nine-year sentence, citing his declining health and the more than six years he has already served.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am not a perfect person. I live with many regrets and sincerely apologize to anyone I may have hurt with my actions,\u201d Weinstein said. \u201cI have to reiterate my innocence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Weinstein was seated in a wheelchair as he addressed the judge.<\/p>\n
Why Weinstein is being sentenced a second time<\/p>\n
Weinstein was originally sentenced to 23 years in prison after a 2020 jury convicted him of assaulting Haley and raping aspiring actress Jessica Mann.<\/p>\n
But New York\u2019s highest court overturned those convictions in 2024 and ordered a new trial, ruling that Weinstein was prejudiced by testimony from other women whose allegations were not part of the case.<\/p>\n
At a retrial last year, Weinstein was again convicted of first-degree criminal sex act for assaulting Haley, who has also gone by the name Mimi Haleyi.<\/p>\n
The jury acquitted him of another charge related to former model Kaja Sokola\u2019s allegations of forcible oral sex in 2006. The jury could not reach a verdict on the third-degree rape charge involving Mann.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors brought another retrial on the Mann charge, but the jury was again unable to reach a verdict. The Manhattan District Attorney\u2019s Office moved to dismiss the charge after Mann said she could not relive her experience for another trial.<\/p>\n
In a statement on the dismissal, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said prosecutors believed Mann\u2019s account and credibility as a witness.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be clear, we believe Ms. Mann\u2019s account and her credibility as a witness. This has been an extraordinarily taxing ordeal for her, and she has never wavered while testifying in front of two grand juries and three trial juries over the course of eight years,\u201d Bragg said. \u201cWe thank her for her honesty and her tremendous bravery.<\/p>\n
The decision cleared the way for Weinstein\u2019s sentencing.<\/p>\n
Weinstein\u2019s legal troubles began after sexual assault allegations against him became public in 2017, helping set off the #MeToo movement. Once among the most powerful figures in the entertainment industry, Weinstein was an Oscar-winning producer whose films included \u201cShakespeare in Love,\u201d \u201cPulp Fiction\u201d and \u201cChocolat.\u201d<\/p>\n
Weinstein\u2019s health issues are central to the defense’s plea for leniency<\/p>\n
Manhattan prosecutors had asked for a 20-year prison sentence.<\/p>\n
Defense lawyer Jacob Kaplan asked that Weinstein receive a sentence of three additional years on top of the more than six years he has already served, saying a longer sentence would make it more likely Weinstein dies in prison.<\/p>\n
Kaplan said Weinstein has been hospitalized six times since 2025 while dealing with blood cancer, congestive heart failure and kidney issues. Weinstein has used a wheelchair for several years.<\/p>\n
His health issues in recent years have included chronic myeloid leukemia, diabetes and walking difficulties, his lawyers said. Two years ago, he underwent emergency surgery to remove fluid from his heart and lungs.<\/p>\n
Weinstein has denied raping or sexually assaulting anyone. He has said he expects to be proven innocent and can appeal his sentence.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will be proven innocent. That I promise you,\u201d Weinstein told The Hollywood Reporter in a jailhouse interview in March.<\/p>\n
Weinstein is also awaiting resentencing in a separate rape case in Los Angeles. A California appeals court upheld his 2022 conviction but threw out his original 16-year sentence because the judge had considered his New York convictions, which were later overturned, as an aggravating factor.<\/p>\n
Weinstein was convicted of three felony sex crimes in Los Angeles and is awaiting sentencing in that case. Ultimately, California will determine whether the sentences will be served consecutively or concurrently.<\/p>\n
Haley describes the assault that led to Weinstein\u2019s conviction<\/p>\n
Haley, 49, is a former entertainment producer now working in advertising.<\/p>\n
Born in Finland and raised in Sweden, she said she met Weinstein through a mutual connection and worked briefly as a production assistant on a reality competition show that he produced, \u201cProject Runway.\u201d<\/p>\n
Haley said she accepted an invitation to visit Weinstein\u2019s Manhattan apartment because it would have been odd to decline since she was scheduled to fly to Los Angeles the next day on his company\u2019s dime to attend a film premiere.<\/p>\n
After she and Weinstein briefly chatted on his living room sofa, he lunged to kiss her, she testified. She said she leaped up and rebuffed him, but he grabbed her, forcibly backed her into a bedroom and sexually assaulted her, ignoring her pleas to stop.<\/p>\n
She recalled Weinstein asking, \u201cDon\u2019t you think we\u2019re much closer now?\u201d after either the alleged assault or a subsequent occasion when she says she had unwanted, but not forced, sex with him.<\/p>\n
She also recalled telling him after the second encounter, \u201cYou know you can\u2019t keep doing this.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they are victims of sexual assault unless they grant permission, which Haley, Sokola and Mann have done.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Harvey Weinstein, the disgraced movie mogul, was sentenced to 15 years in prison Wednesday for sexually assaulting former…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":355258,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[105,472,10015,117,387,25,118,2136,303,157,75,84,83,9,24,12,63,308,76016,1103,27,200],"class_list":["post-355257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-manhattan","tag-all-markets-rank-everywhere","tag-app-arts-entertainment","tag-app-crime","tag-app-for-your-consideration","tag-app-public-safety","tag-app-top-stories","tag-associated-press","tag-california","tag-crime","tag-entertainment","tag-manhattan","tag-manhattan-headlines","tag-manhattan-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-news","tag-nyc","tag-public-safety","tag-socal-what-you-need-to-know","tag-spectrum-news-ny1","tag-top-stories","tag-vod"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=355257"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355257\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/355258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=355257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=355257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=355257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}