Former movie producer Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison on Wednesday following his sexual assault and rape conviction last month in a case hailed as a victory for the #MeToo movement against sexual misconduct.
The sentence was handed down in Manhattan criminal court by Justice James Burke, who presided over Weinstein’s trial. A jury on Feb. 24 found Weinstein, 67, guilty of sexually assaulting former production assistant Mimi Haleyi and raping former aspiring actress Jessica Mann.
Once one of Hollywood’s most influential producers, Weinstein had faced the possibility of a maximum sentence of 29 years in prison.
During the sentencing hearing, prosecutor Joan Illuzzi asked Burke to impose 25 years or “near” 25 years in prison for his conviction on a charge of criminal sexual act in the first degree involving Haleyi and to impose a consecutive sentence for the third-degree rapeconviction involving Mann. That charge called for up to four years in prison, but the prosecution made no specific request.
Weinstein, wearing a suit, and the six women who testified against Weinstein were in court for the proceedings.
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