No mercy for Weinstein: another 16 years in prison for ex-film magnate 5 dead in plane crash in the US state of Arkansas

Former Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, already incarcerated, has been sentenced to another lengthy sentence for sex crimes. A Los Angeles court sentenced the 70-year-old to 16 years in prison on Thursday. Weinstein is currently serving a 23-year sentence following a 2020 trial in New York for rape and assault.

During the court hearing, several women told how Weinstein abused them. Weinstein himself appeared in gray prison clothes and in a wheelchair. He defended himself shortly before sentencing, asking the court for “mercy”: “I insist that I am innocent.” Referring specifically to one of the women, Weinstein said he did not rape her. “Please don’t sentence me to life imprisonment. I don’t deserve this. There are so many things wrong with this case.” Weinstein’s lawyers had previously announced they would appeal both the New York and Los Angeles rulings.

At the Los Angeles trial in December, a jury convicted Weinstein of three counts of sex crimes, including rape. On one point he was acquitted and on three other points there was no agreement. The allegations came from four women between 2004 and 2013. One of the accusers was Jennifer Siebel, now the wife of California Governor Gavin Newsom. Most of the attacks allegedly took place in hotels in Beverly Hills.

Weinstein was found guilty of rape and assault in New York. The trial marked a milestone in legal history. The case had sparked the #MeToo movement at the time. Since 2017, more than 80 women have publicly accused Weinstein of sexual assault.

Born into a wealthy family in New York City’s Queens in 1952, Weinstein was once a wealthy and powerful Hollywood mogul who made such successful films as “The English Patient”, “Pulp Fiction”, “Good Will Hunting” or ‘Gangs of New York’ and himself won an Oscar for ‘Shakespeare in Love.’ Now he spends most of his time in a wheelchair due to health problems and could spend the rest of his life in prison.

In a similar case, a sentence was announced on Thursday: ex-pop star R. Kelly (56), who is already in prison for sex offenses, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison by a court in Chicago, according to US media reports. However, unlike Weinstein’s case, in Kelly’s case, the court ruled that he could serve most of his sentences concurrently. Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison in New York last year for, among other things, sexual abuse of minors. (sda/dpa)