Harvey Weinstein sentenced to 15 years in prison for sexual assault

Former Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein was sentenced Wednesday to 15 years in prison for the sexual assault charge for which he was found guilty over a year ago. As proven at trial, Weinstein sexually assaulted Miriam Haley, a former production assistant on the reality show Project Runway, in 2006. The case helped fuel the #MeToo movement and encouraged many women to come forward publicly to speak about their experiences of sexual abuse.

Weinstein, who had pleaded not guilty to the charge of first-degree criminal sexual act, appeared in the downtown Manhattan courtroom in a wheelchair with his hands cuffed to the seat.

Initially, Weinstein, 74, was sentenced to 23 years in prison after being found guilty in 2020 of rape and sexual assault charges, but the sentence was overturned four years later. The retrial took place in 2025, once again bringing into the spotlight some of the key allegations from his original case linked to the #MeToo movement.

In 2024, New York’s highest court overturned the disgraced film producer’s conviction and ordered a new trial, ruling that Weinstein had been prejudiced by testimony regarding allegations that were not part of the case. After being tried a second time last year, Weinstein was again convicted of first-degree criminal sexual act in connection with Haley.

Weinstein has already served more than six years of his sentence. Haley recounted the assault during both trials and spoke again in court on Wednesday, just before sentencing was handed down.

“Having been sexually assaulted by Harvey Weinstein has had a devastating effect on my life and sense of security that may never go away. Making the decision to speak up will have me looking over my shoulder for years to come,” Haley said. “It’s a life sentence for me.”

“I’ve been further traumatized in exercising my right to hold him accountable. All of this traces back to his actions,” she said, adding that on many occasions she considered giving up her fight for justice.

Minutes later, Weinstein apologized in court to those he may have harmed. “I do have remorse for Miriam Haley’s pain, but I have to reiterate my innocence,” he told the judge.

Haley, 49, of Finnish descent, said she met Weinstein through a mutual acquaintance and worked briefly as a production assistant on Project Runway, a reality competition show he produced. Haley said she accepted an invitation to visit Weinstein’s apartment in Manhattan because it would have seemed strange to decline, given that she was scheduled to fly to Los Angeles the next day — with expenses paid by his company — to attend a movie premiere.

After chatting briefly on the living room couch, Weinstein lunged at her to kiss her, according to her testimony. She jumped up and pushed him away, but he grabbed her, forcibly dragged her into a bedroom, and sexually assaulted her, ignoring her pleas for him to stop.

Last year, a 12-person jury returned a single guilty verdict for Weinstein’s crimes against Haley, but did not do the same regarding the other two charges against him: raping an aspiring actress, Jessica Mann, in 2013, and forcing Kaja Sokola in 2002 — when she was a 16-year-old aspiring actress — to perform oral sex on him.

Manhattan prosecutors sought a 20-year prison sentence, which would keep him behind bars at least until he was in his late 80s.

Defense attorney Jacob Kaplan requested that Weinstein receive a sentence of three additional years on top of the six he has already served, arguing that a longer sentence would increase the likelihood that Weinstein would die in prison. Weinstein’s health is deteriorating, and he has been hospitalized six times since 2025, Kaplan noted, as he battles leukemia, congestive heart failure, and kidney problems. He has been using a wheelchair for several years.

In another related case in California, Weinstein is awaiting a new sentence after being found guilty of rape. A trial court sentenced him to 16 years in prison, but in June, an appeals court ruled that the sentence must be reviewed.

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