Disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein has returned to the New York prison system after spending nearly two years in California, where he was tried and convicted of raping an Italian actress and model.
Weinstein, whose December 2022 conviction in Los Angeles followed a conviction in New York in February 2020 on rape and sexual assault charges, will be housed at the Mohawk Correctional Facility in Rome, New York, state prison officials said.
Before being extradited to California in 2021, Weinstein was serving his New York sentence at the Wende Correctional Facility near Buffalo.
He was flown back on New York on April 5th. A spokesperson for the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision said the department chose to transfer Weinstein to the medium-security Mohawk facility in central New York after reviewing his treatment and programme needs.
Weinstein, who co-founded the entertainment company Miramax with his brother Bob, was one of the movie industry’s most powerful executives until multiple women went public with accusations of rape, assault and sexual harassment against him starting in 2017.
His accusers included well-known actresses like Annabella Sciorra and Ashley Judd.
He was sentenced to 23 years in prison on his New York conviction for rape and sexual assault against two women and another 16 years for his Los Angeles conviction.
His lawyers have said the 71-year-old suffers from health problems including cardiac issues, diabetes, sleep apnoea and eye problems.
Weinstein’s spokesperson Juda Engelmayer said on Wednesday: “It was our expectation that he would have been returned to Wende CF where he was previously in protective custody and where all the doctors that treated his very serious medical ailments and diminishing eyesight are located.”
