Weinstein (Inmate 20B0584) in Max-Security Prison by Buffalo
(Bloomberg) -- Harvey Weinstein, having shuttled between a Rikers Island infirmary and Manhattan’s Bellevue Hospital for a heart condition, is now in a maximum-security prison in upstate New York to begin serving his 23-year sentence for sexual assault.
The disgraced movie producer, who turns 68 on Thursday, won’t be eligible for parole until Nov. 9, 2039, according to the state’s Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. He could be in prison until Feb. 23, 2043.
Weinstein was assigned for evaluation to the Wende Correctional Facility in Alden, N.Y., just east of Buffalo. Wende, with more than 950 inmates, has housed some notorious prisoners. They include the “Preppie killer,” Robert Chambers;Mark David Chapman, who murdered the Beatles’ John Lennon; and Jimmy “The Gent” Burke, an alleged Mafia associate believed to be the mastermind of the 1978 Lufthansa heist, then the largest cash robbery in American history.
The fallen Hollywood power broker was given a state inmate number (20B0584) and will remain at Wende during a “classification process,” after which he may serve his time at Wende itself or be assigned elsewhere, a spokesman for the department said.
Where a prisoner is assigned depends on factors including medical needs, mental health, prior employment, any extensive notoriety, behavior in local jails and whether the inmate was convicted of a violent crime. Weinstein was convicted last month of first-degree criminal sexual act for forcing oral sex on a production assistant and the third-degree rape of an aspiring actress.
Read More: Producer’s Life in Prison Is Hospital Jails and TV Fights
Those with more than six years remaining until their earliest release date are housed in maximum-security facilities, according to the department.
Arthur Aidala, a lawyer for Weinstein, didn’t immediately return an email seeking comment on his client’s move to Wende.
Weinstein isn’t far from his alma mater. He attended the State University of New York at Buffalo before launching a business with his brother Robert producing rock concerts. From there he got into the indie movie industry and rose to become one of the most powerful producers in Hollywood.
The case is People v. Weinstein, 450293/2018, New York State Supreme Court (Manhattan).
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(Updates with details starting in fourth paragraph)
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