Harvey Weinstein sentenced to 15 years in New York for sexual assault case

New York [US], September 24 : Former Hollywood filmmaker Harvey Weinstein has been sentenced to 15 years in prison in New York after being convicted of committing a criminal sexual act against former Project Runway assistant Miriam Haley, The Hollywood Reporter reported. 
The sentence follows his 2025 retrial conviction and comes after prosecutors sought a 20-year prison term.
Weinstein, 74, told the court he was “not a perfect person” and acknowledged that his past conduct had negatively affected others, while continuing to maintain his innocence. 
“I am not a perfect person. But I am a person who has made mistakes,” Weinstein said, reading from a statement, adding, “Reflecting on all that has happened since 2017 has helped me recognise how my past conduct has negatively impacted others.”
He also said he wanted to “apologise to anyone" he "may have hurt through my actions” and asked the court for mercy. “I’m not a violent man. I ask for mercy,” he said, as quoted by The Hollywood Reporter.
Prosecutors had recommended 20 years in prison, along with five years of post-release supervision. Weinstein’s defence had sought a nine-year sentence, citing his health and arguing that a longer term could mean he dies in prison.
The Class B felony carries a maximum sentence of 25 years. A Class B felony is a serious criminal offence that can carry a prison sentence of one to 25 years or more, depending on the specific state or federal law.
Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Nicole Blumberg argued that Weinstein should not receive a reduced sentence. “The defendant doesn’t deserve a day less than his original sentence,” she said.
“Despite being found guilty of that offence, not once but twice, the defendant has never shown an ounce of remorse,” Blumberg added, accusing him of victim blaming and “unrelenting online harassment”.
Judge Curtis Farber ordered the sentence with five years of post-release supervision and required Weinstein to register as a sex offender. He asked that the New York sentence run consecutively to Weinstein’s California sentence, while noting that California ultimately has the authority over how its sentence is applied, The Hollywood Reporter reported. 
“You will be remembered for the many films you brought to the silver screen,” Farber said, adding that this “pales in comparison to what he became: ‘a sexual predator, the literal face of the #MeToo movement.’”
Haley testified during Weinstein’s April 2025 retrial that she first met him in 2004 at a film afterparty. She later reconnected with him at the Cannes Film Festival in 2006, where she said Weinstein offered her work as a production assistant on Project Runway.
Haley testified that Weinstein forced oral sex on her at his Manhattan apartment that year and physically held her down as she protested.
Speaking in court ahead of Wednesday’s sentencing, Haley said this was the second victim-impact statement she had delivered in connection with the case.
“This is the second witness impact statement I’m giving related to the crime committed against me by Harvey Weinstein,” Haley said, adding, “I trust that it will be my final one,” as quoted by The Hollywood Reporter.
She described testifying twice as traumatising and said she had considered abandoning the case several times. She cited the cross-examination, media attention, online hostility and the lasting effects of the assault.
“For every person who gets scared, tired, intimidated and shamed, I knew those were the reasons I had to keep going,” Haley said.
Weinstein was seated in a wheelchair at the defence table during the statement and did not look at Haley, as per The Hollywood Reporter.
Weinstein was originally convicted in New York in 2020 of raping aspiring actress Jessica Mann and sexually assaulting Haley. He was sentenced to 23 years in prison.
That conviction was overturned in 2024 after the New York Court of Appeals found that the trial judge had improperly allowed testimony from women whose allegations were not part of the charges against Weinstein.
Prosecutors subsequently pursued a retrial in 2025.
Weinstein was again convicted of the criminal sexual act involving Haley but was acquitted of a similar charge involving former model Kaja Sokola. The jury could not reach a verdict on the charge involving Mann, resulting in a mistrial.
Prosecutors later dismissed that charge after Mann decided she did not want to testify again.
Weinstein is also facing a 16-year prison sentence in California. That sentence was originally expected to begin after his initial New York sentence, but a state appeals court has ordered him to be resentenced. No date for that proceeding has been set, The Hollywood Reporter reported. 
His legal team has also petitioned the California Supreme Court to review his conviction.
Weinstein has been imprisoned since 2020 and has spent time at Rikers Island while receiving hospital treatment. His attorney, Jacob Kaplan, told the court that Weinstein's treatment for cancer aggravates his heart condition and is expected to lead to further hospitalisations.
Weinstein told the court that, if released, he wanted to establish a foundation called Transfer to help rehabilitate inmates after their release from prison.
Outside the courthouse, Haley appeared alongside Kaja Sokola and other witnesses with attorney Gloria Allred, who addressed the broader significance of the case.
“Many in the press have suggested that this sentencing marks the end of the #MeToo movement,” Allred said, adding, “In my opinion, as a women’s rights and victims’ rights attorney for 50 years, nothing could be further from the truth.”
She added that the movement began decades before the allegations against Weinstein became public and would continue in the future.