Harvey Weinstein begged a Manhattan judge for mercy before being sentenced to 15 years in prison Wednesday.
The 74-year-old former Miramax boss, who was wheeled into court in a wheelchair, told Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Curtis Farber that he was “not a perfect person” and had “made mistakes.” Weinstein was being sentenced on his 2025 conviction for criminal sex act in the first degree for sexually assaulting former TV production assistant Miriam “Mimi” Haley.
“I really do have remorse for Miriam Haley,” he claimed in court. “I’m not a violent man. I ask for mercy.”
Prosecutor Nicole Blumberg revealed that Weinstein had been recorded offering a podcaster $1.75 million to release videos of witnesses. The scheme was designed, Blumberg said, “to contaminate the jury pool and to reach the jurors before and after the trial.” Blumberg did not name the podcaster, though Candace Owens released a 2025 podcast series called “Harvey Speaks” that featured videos of Weinstein at Rikers Island.
Weinstein had faced up to 25 years on the guilty count. Manhattan prosecutors had signaled they were seeking 20 years for the “significant harms” caused to Haley.
The sentence comes nearly six years after Weinstein’s first trial in 2020, at the height of the #MeToo movement. At that trial, he was convicted of third-degree rape for sexually assaulting actress Jessica Mann inside Midtown’s DoubleTree hotel on March 18, 2013. New York’s highest appeals court overturned that conviction and ordered a new trial.
Weinstein’s lawyers called him “a very sick man” who has been wasting away at Rikers Island, where he has constantly complained about his ailing health and the jail’s conditions. He is already serving a 16-year sentence from his December 2022 California conviction, when a jury found him guilty of one count of rape and two counts of sexual assault against an Italian model and actor.
The second New York trial in 2025 added a new accuser, Kaja Sokola, who alleged Weinstein sexually assaulted her twice when she was in her teens. A dysfunctional jury convicted Weinstein again of raping Haley but acquitted him on the Sokola charge. They deadlocked on the Mann attack, forcing a mistrial before prosecutors opted for a third trial.
That third trial ended in May with a hung jury. Prosecutors considered a fourth trial, but Mann chose not to endure testifying again.
Haley is among approximately 80 women who have accused the producer of sexual assault and misconduct. She has said she felt inspired to come forward after seeing other women share their experiences online during the #MeToo movement’s peak.
Farber’s 15-year sentence means Weinstein, already in failing health, could die behind bars.
Weinstein is expected to continue serving his California sentence.