After a Supreme Court Judge on Wednesday sentenced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein to 23 years in prison for criminal sexual act in the first degree and third-degree rape, he was admitted to a hospital in New York due to chest pains. According to reports, prison officials sent Weinstein back to Bellevue hospital “for safety” and “he will be evaluated and likely will stay overnight”. Weinstein was previously admitted to the hospital when he experienced high blood pressure and heart palpitations.
Reacting to the judgment, Weinstein’s attorney Donna Rotunno said: “Of course it’s too harsh. It’s ridiculous”. Before the judgment was announced, Rotunno told the judge that Weinstein should get a shorter sentence because he has a “long list of illnesses”.
Meanwhile, reports have emerged that Weinstein pleaded for mercy in the courtroom saying “men are losing due process”. “First of all, to all the women who testified, we may have different truths, but I have great remorse for all of you. I have great remorse for all the men and women going through this crisis right now in our country,” Weinstein reportedly said.
Weinstein, who has been accused of assaulting many women, was convicted last month of raping aspiring actress Jessica Mann in a hotel in New York in 2013 and forcing oral sex on former TV and film production assistant Mimi Haley at his apartment in 2006.