Disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, CNHI newspapers reported Sunday, citing two anonymous officials connected to the New York state prison system.
Weinstein was taken to Wende Correctional Facility in western New YOrk on Wednesday to begin his journey through the prison system and is one of two prisoners confirmed to have the virus, which causes COVID-19, the officials said.
The convicted rapist was expected to be housed temporarily at Wende while officials decide in which state facility he would serve his 23 year term for rape and sexual assault.
The officials spoke to CNHI anonymously because they’re not authorized to break privacy rules about an inmate’s health record. Weinstein is reportedly being held in isolation, the sources said.
Weinstein’s publicist, Juda Engelmayer, however, told The Daily Beast that “our team … has not heard anything like that yet.”
Michael Powers, president of the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association (NYSCOPBA), told CNHI that three corrections officers in the state prison system have tested positive for the virus and several others are being monitored because they came in contact with someone who has tested positive.
Weinstein was found guilty on February 24 of raping an aspiring actress and sexually assaulting a production assistant, as CrimeOnline previously reported. He was sentenced on March 11 but spent most of the time between his conviction and sentencing and sentencing and transfer to Wende at Bellevue Hospital instead of Rikers prison because of “chest pains” and high blood pressure.
He also faces four more charges of rape and sexual assault in California.
See more on Harvey Weinstein’s sexual assault and rape cases here.
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[Featured image: Harvey Weinstein arrives at court on February 24/AP Photo/John Minchillo]
