Harvey Weinstein appeared Thursday in a Los Angeles court, where he was sentenced to 16 years in prison for raping a woman in 2013.
Judge Lisa B. Lench denied the disgraced movie mogul’s request for a new trial before victim, Jane Doe 1, only identified as an Italian model, gave an impact statement.
Weinstein — who is already serving a 23-year prison sentence in New York for criminal sexual assault and third-degree rape — then spoke to the court to plead for leniency before his sentence was handed down.
He said: “I maintain that I am innocent. I don’t know this woman.
“This is about money. This is what happens when there is a cottage industry of lawyers. She had every opportunity to report this to police.
“This is another story, and with all due respect, Jane Doe 1 is an actress. She can turn the tears on. Please don’t sentence me to life in prison. I don’t deserve it. There are so many things wrong with this case.
“This is a setup. I beg your mercy. “
Lench then ruled that the sentence on the three counts Weinstein was convicted of would be eight years for forcible rape, six years for forcible oral copulation and two years for sexual penetration by a foreign object, all to run consecutively.
Weinstein had initially faced more than 11 counts of sexual assault against four women which took place between 2004 and 2013 at the trial, which lasted two months and concluded in December.
It took a jury 10 days of deliberation and 41 hours of debate before it reached a guilty verdict against Weinstein.
A mistrial was declared on charges against Weinstein involving Jane Doe 2, who had been previously identified as actress and screenwriter Lauren Young, and Jane Doe 4, who is Jennifer Siebel Newsom — the wife of California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Weinstein was found not guilty of sexual battery by restraint of Jane Doe 3, a massage therapist with ties to Mel Gibson.
During her testimony at the trial, Jane Doe 1 had said Weinstein bullied his way into her room at the Mr. C Hotel in February 2013, then forced her to orally copulate with him. She said Weinstein then pulled her into the bathroom, where he raped her.
In her victim impact statement to the court Thursday, a sobbing and trembling Jane Doe 1 said: “Ten years later, the effects of this rape are still raw and difficult to discuss. I have been carrying this weight, this trauma. This irrational belief that it was my fault.
“His selfish, disgusting actions have greatly impacted my life … Everything changed after the defendant brutally assaulted me.
“Your honor, I hope you can understand my suffering. There is no prison sentence long enough to undo the damage. I hope that you give him the maximum sentence allowable.
“I will be forever grateful to the jury who found the defendant guilty of rape.”
Weinstein’s Defense attorney Mark Werksman argued for a lesser concurrent sentence and said Weinstein’s “behavior” with Jane Doe 1 was “only one frenzied ordeal.” The attorney also begged for a lighter sentence because of Weinstein’s age and his deteriorating health.
“He’s a 70-year old man with bad health, coronary disease, chronic lumbar disc fracture, arthritis,” Werksman said. “Consider the life he lived. Mr. Weinstein did a lot of good for a lot of people.”
