Hollywood producer, Harvey Weinstein has been sentenced to 16 years in prison for a rape conviction in Los Angeles.
This adds to a more than two-decade-long sentence already handed down in New York.
Weinstein, 70, was convicted in the Los Angeles case in December, three years after he was convicted at a sex crimes trial in New York City. Weinstein’s new sentence will run consecutively with the 23-year term given to him in his New York trial, giving him a total of 39 years behind bars in sex crimes convictions.
In the Los Angeles case, a jury found Weinstein guilty of three counts related to the accuser known as Jane Doe 1: forcible rape, forcible oral copulation and sexual penetration by foreign object.
The jury found him not guilty of sexual battery by restraint involving a second accuser, identified as Jane Doe 2, and was unable to reach verdicts on allegations involving Jane Doe 3 and Jane Doe 4.
Weinstein could have faced up to 24 years in the Los Angeles case, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón has said.
His legal team filed an appeal requesting a new trial, alleging that evidence was excluded about a romantic relationship between Jane Doe 1 and a witness that could have altered the jury’s decision.
Superior Court Judge Lisa B. Lench denied the request.
Weinstein is serving a 23-year sentence on a rape case that was considered a landmark trial of the #MeToo movement.
He was convicted in New York in 2020 of third-degree rape and first-degree criminal sexual act for crimes against two women, one an aspiring actor and the other a “Project Runway” production assistant. An appeal is pending.
Weinstein pleaded not guilty at both trials and has denied all allegations of nonconsensual sex. In both trials, Weinstein waived his right to take the witness stand.
