Disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein returned to prison Monday after spending five days at Bellevue Hospital in New York when he experienced “chest pains” last week just hours after he was sentenced to 23 years in prison, according to the New York Daily News.
It was Weinstein’s second stint in the hospital since he was found guilty on February 24 of sexually assaulting his former production assistant Miriam Haley and raping aspiring actress Jessica Mann. He spent more than a week in the hospital and had a stent placed during his first visit, which came hours after the jury verdict was announced. Weinstein, 68, was en route to Rikers Island prison when he experienced heart palpitations and high blood pressure and was diverted to the hospital, as CrimeOnline previously reported..
Following the stent placement, he was taken to Rikers and housed in the infirmary on March 5. And then, a few hours after he was sentenced to 23 years in prison on March 11, Weinstein experienced “chest pains,” his publicist said, and he was taken back to Bellevue.
“It’s known that he has a weak heart,” Weinstein’s spokesman Juda Engelmayer told Variety. “So, right after the sentencing, when he went back to Rikers, he was faint and talking funny, and the staff at Rikers felt it was best to send him back to make sure nothing happened to him. He has heart issues and serious health issues and they wanted to make sure he was okay.”
Engelmayer said he has heard unofficialy that prosecutors have begun the extradition process to bring Weinstein to California, where he faces four more rape and sexual assault charges.
“Allegedly, they’ve already started the process,” he said. “I haven’t heard it officially, but I think there is a little bit of process in place. He has to first be sentenced to a correctional facility and find a permanent home.”
That process, Engelmayer said, should be complete “shortly.”
Weinstein’s defense attorney Arthur Aidala told the Daily News that his client was “on a gurney on a truck to Rikers” shortly after 3 p.m. on Monday
Aidala told the newspaper that the convicted rapist was feeling the ramifications of the novel coronavirus currently spreading around the world.
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[Featured image: Harvey Weinstein arrives at court on February 24/AP Photo/Craig Ruttle]
