Sandy MaloneNew York, NY – Disgraced movie mogul and convicted felon Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison on Wednesday.
Weinstein, who was convicted by a jury of criminal sexual act in the first degree and rape in the third degree, was facing five to 29 years in prison for his crimes, NBC News reported.
The judge sentenced the 67-year-old movie producer to 20 years for the first count and 3 years for the second count, to be served consecutively.
Weinstein was also ordered to register as a sex offender, NBC News reported.
Ahead of his sentencing, Weinstein made a statement about how he was worried about the country in the wake of the #MeToo movement.
He said he was worried that “thousands of men are losing due process” and said he thought he’d had legitimate relationships with his accusers, NBC News reported.
The lead prosecutor in the case, Joan Illuzzi-Orbon, told the judge Weinstein “would never have been stopped from hurting more lives” and deserved the maximum sentence.
“He has been using and abusing people his whole life,” Illuzzi-Orbon said.
Weinstein’s attorney called the 23-year-sentence “obscene,” “obnoxious,” and “cowardly, NBC News reported.
Donna Rotunno said she was furious and that the sentence “did not speak to the evidence that came out at trial.”
Weinstein will next be tried in Los Angeles where is he is facing four more counts of rape and sexual battery charges.
Legal experts have said convictions in New York would have serious consequences for the pending cases in California because they’ll be “treated as very serious prior convictions,” NBC News reported.
The Oscar-winner is accused of sexually assaulting numerous women in the movie industry on both coasts, The Washington Post reported.
More than 50 women have come forward accusing Weinstein of sexual abuse since The New York Times published an investigative column on Oct. 5, 2017 exposing three decades of sexual harassment complaints against the award-winning film mogul.