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Harvey Weinstein will spend at least five years and a maximum of 29 years in prison when his sentence is handed down – and that sentence will be served in one of the country’s most notorious prisons, Rikers Island.
Last month, the disgraced movie producer was convicted of rape and sexual assault. On his way to the prison after his conviction, however, he complained of chest pains and heart palpitations and was rushed to Bellevue Hospital where doctors found a blockage. On Wednesday, they put a stint in to remove the blockage, Weinstein’s publicist, Juda Engelmayer said, and doctors cleared him to be moved.
Weinstein was transported to Rikers’ infirmary unit Thursday, his spokesperson told CNN.
READ MORE: Harvey Weinstein found guilty of rape and sexual assault
Weinstein, 67, began working with a consultant to prepare for prison months ago, even as his lawyers fought to keep him out of Rikers. He told a judge that he suffers from “significant medical issues,” CNN reported.
“He’s under the care of five doctors currently. He’s dealing with the remnants of his back operation which was not successful. He’s in need of the walker. He takes a list of different medicines. Judge, he’s currently receiving shots in his eyes so he does not go blind,” his attorney Donna Rotunno told the judge after Weinstein was convicted on February 24.
Rotunno asked if Weinstein could remain on an ankle monitor or placed under house arrest.
But the judge ordered him sent to prison.
READ MORE: Taraji P. Henson says Harvey Weinstein stopped her from getting a role due to Race
Rotunno then requested that Weinstein be housed at Rikers’ north infirmary unit inside the Anna M. Kross Center building, where he was taken on Thursday. The infirmary has cells that some inmates are placed in as a protective measure if they could be considered targets in the general population, according to The New York Daily News.
Rikers consists of 10 separate jails and houses up to 15,000 inmates. The prison has been the subject of class-action lawsuits for numerous allegations of abuse and mistreatment of inmates, both by correction guards and violent inmates.
The prison was the subject of a documentary on Kalief Browder. He committed suicide after he spent three years locked up at Rikers without being convicted of any crime.
Weinstein will be sentenced on March 11. His lawyers say they will appeal his conviction.
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