Harvey Weinstein Raced To Hospital With Chest Pains After He’s Found Guilty Of Rape
While Harvey Weinstein was supposed to be headed to Rikers Island jail after being found guilty of rape, he was instead rushed to a hospital after complaining of chest pains.
It appears Harvey Weinstein won’t be spending his first night in jail after being found guilty of sexual assault and third-degree rape on Feb. 24. He was led away from the courtroom in handcuffs and ordered held at NY’s notorious Rikers Island jail until his March 11 sentencing, but he never made it there. Instead, he was diverted to Bellevue Hospital after complaining of chest pains, his representative told our sister site Variety.
The site notes that while Bellevue is primarily a psychiatric hospital, it also treats NYC jail inmates and that is what Harvey will soon become. He had been free on $2 million since his May 25, 2018 arrest, but now he’s going to New York’s main jail — which has a history of violence among inmates — while he awaits his sentence. The former movie mogul’s attorney Donna Rotunno asked Justice James Burke for Harvey to remain free on bond until sentencing due to a recent unsuccessful back surgery, but instead the judge remanded him to Rikers.
Harvey faces between five to 29 years in prison after a jury of seven men and five women convicted him of predatory sexual assault and third-degree rape. It came after a three week trial and four and a half days of deliberation. He was acquitted of three other charges, including first-degree rape and two predatory sexual assault charges. The 67-year-old could very well end up spending the rest of his life in prison if the judge imposes the maximum sentence upon him.
Harvey was convicted on charges of raping a woman in an NYC hotel room in 2013 and forcibly performing oral sex on another woman in 2006. He had been accused by over 80 women — many of them aspiring actresses — of sexually predatory behavior, but the statute of limitations had run out on a number of the cases.
On Oct. 5, 2017, the New York Times published the scorching expose Harvey Weinstein Paid Off Sexual Harassment Accusers for Decades, in which actress Ashley Judd, 51, came forward and told of how he asked her to a breakfast meeting and instead had her come to his hotel room and asked her to watch him shower. Following that, numerous women came forward with stories of sexually predatory behavior by the former Weinstein Company president. A-list stars such as Gwyneth Paltrow, 47, and Angelina Jolie, 44, said they had uncomfortable experiences in their younger years with Harvey, while others accused him of actual rape. It blew open the #MeToo movement about sexual harassment and abuse in Hollywood by those in powerful positions.