NEW YORK — Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison Wednesday following his landmark #MeToo conviction for rape and sexual assault according to the Los Angeles Times and PBS.
He faced a maximum of 29 years behind bars for raping an aspiring actress in 2013 and forcibly performing oral sex on a TV and film production assistant in 2006. A second criminal case is pending in California.
According to CNN, a judge sentenced Weinstein to 20 years in prison for the charge of criminal sexual act in the first degree and three years in prison for a charge of rape in the third degree.
Both women that Weinstein was convicted of assaulting gave victim impact statements prior to the sentencing.
Mimi Haleyi broke into tears as spoke about the 2006 attack in which Weinstein assaulted her.
“I believe that if Harvey Weinstein was not convicted by this jury, it would happen again and again and again,” Haleyi said, according to the Associated Press.
The Associated Press also reports that a second Weinstein victim recalled the moment during the trial in which she left the witness stand in tears.
"The day my screams were heard from the witness room was the day my voice came back to its full power,” she said.
Weinstein will also have a chance to speak after he chose not to testify during the trial.
The New York case was the first criminal matter to arise from accusations of more than 90 women.
