The final stage in Harvey Weinstein’s criminal trial will take place on Wednesday morning in New York City, when the convicted producer will appear in court for his sentencing.
Weinstein was found guilty by a jury of a first-degree criminal sexual act and third-degree rape based on the accounts of two women: Miriam Haley (née Mimi Haleyi) and Jessica Mann. He faces between five and 29 years in prison for his crimes.
Assistant district attorney Joan Illuzzi, who led the prosecution on the case, requested in a letter last Friday that the judge hand down a “lengthy prison sentence” worthy of the offenses Weinstein committed.
“[The] defendant has displayed a staggering lack of empathy, treating others with disdain and inhumanity. He has consistently advanced his own sordid desires and fixations over the well-being of others. He has destroyed people’s lives and livelihoods or threatened to do so on whim. He has exhibited an attitude of superiority and complete lack of compassion for his fellow man,” Illuzzi wrote in her letter. “It is therefore totally appropriate in this case to communicate to a wider audience that sexual assault, even if perpetrated upon an acquaintance or in a professional setting, is a serious offense worthy of a lengthy prison sentence.”
But in the defense’s sentencing request, Weinstein’s legal team asked that the judge hand down the smallest prison sentence of five years, in part, because of Weinstein’s health and because he was a “first-time offender.”
“As an individual with no criminal history having spent no time previously incarcerated, his health concerns, his age, and as famous as he is, a custodial sentence will no doubt prove much more difficult for Mr. Weinstein than most other inmates, which further counsels in favor of a sentence of five years’ imprisonment,” attorneys Donna Rotunno, Damon Cheronis, and Arthur Aidala wrote in a letter to the judge.
On Wednesday morning at 9:30 a.m. ET, the proceedings will convene at 100 Centre St. Haley and Mann are expected to deliver victim impact statements to the court, and Weinstein will also be given the opportunity to give a statement as well, should he choose to do so. Both the prosecution and defense will deliver oral arguments to make their case for how long Weinstein should be sentenced.
Once the sentencing has been handed down by the judge, Weinstein will be transferred into the custody of the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision and taken to a reception/classification center. There, he must take a shower, receive a delousing treatment, and have a shave and a haircut. He will then receive state-issued clothing and personal care products. After being fingerprinted and getting his photograph taken, Weinstein will be allowed to receive a phone call — or have a call made on his behalf — from or to his family.
The convicted producer will then receive rule books, watch an orientation video, and receive a gender-specific pamphlet about preventing sexual abuse in prison, titled “The Prevention of Sexual Abuse in Prison: What Inmates Need to Know.” He will also watch videos about preventing sexual abuse suicide in prison and be screened for his physical and mental health, as well as assessed on his “risk of being sexually abused by other inmates or sexually abusive toward other inmates,” before being transferred to his assigned prison.