NEW YORK — Former movie mogul Harvey Weinstein has been returned to a New York prison in what his publicist said Tuesday was the result of a published report alleging he was receiving VIP treatment during his 10-day hospital stay.
Press secretary Juda Engelmeyer said Weinstein was transferred on Monday night from Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan to an infirmary at the city’s Rikers Island prison complex.
The move came hours after The City, a nonprofit news outlet, reported that Weinstein was housed in a private room in the hospital’s intensive care unit, with a television, telephone and bathroom, rather than on a separate floor where inmates normally reside there.
Engelmeyer disputed the report, saying Weinstein was “not receiving preferential or VIP treatment” and was not housed in what could be characterized as a hospital suite. Engelmeyer said he was housed on the floor for inmates, where everyone has access to a room with telephones and a television room.
“He was transferred back to Rikers in large part due to pressure, I believe, due to pressure because of the news about what someone thought was VIP treatment,” he said.
Weinstein was taken to Bellevue Hospital just hours after he was transferred on April 26 from the Mohawk Correctional Center, about 100 miles northwest of Albany, to Rikers, less than a day after the New York Court of Appeals overturned his conviction.
The appeals court ruled that a Manhattan trial judge allowed jurors to see and hear too much evidence not directly related to the charges he faced and ordered a new trial, overturning his 23-year prison sentence. However, he remained in prison because he was convicted in Los Angeles in 2022 of another rape and was sentenced to 16 years in prison.
Although prosecutors asked for a new trial in September on charges that he forcibly performed oral sex on a TV and film production assistant in 2006 and raped an aspiring actor in 2013, it was unclear whether the trial’s key witnesses would return. for a new trial. Weinstein disputed the allegations.
Frank Dwyer, a spokesman for the New York City Department of Correction, said Weinstein was originally taken to Bellevue for medical care and returned to the West Facility, a Rikers Island prison in Queens, when treatment was completed.
The West Facility houses 140 specially air-controlled housing units for inmates with contagious diseases such as tuberculosis, according to a city website, although the prison has also been used for inmates who need to be isolated from the general prison population for other reasons.
Craig Rothfeld, a corrections consultant who works with Weinstein’s lawyers, responded to an email sent to a Weinstein lawyer saying the decision to return Weinstein to Rikers was made by medical staff “who are more than qualified to make these decisions.” medical decisions.”
He said there are no further updates to be provided regarding Weinstein’s health and that all of his health conditions continue to be closely monitored by county jail and health officials.
“We have full confidence in your decision-making abilities regarding Mr. Weinstein’s safety and well-being and are grateful for your continued communication,” Rothfeld said.
Engelmeyer said Weinstein was treated at the hospital for pneumonia, a recurring problem related to his heart problems, as well as other medical problems including diabetes.
“He appreciates the care he received at Bellevue,” he said.
Engelmeyer said Weinstein was “disappointed” with his return to Rikers and “uncomfortable” there, where the spokesperson described Weinstein’s housing as “more like an infirmary.”
He said Weinstein spoke regularly by phone with his lawyers when he was in the hospital, as other inmates awaiting trial might do.
“He did not receive any different treatment from the others. He wasn’t talking to his friends and colleagues and having fun,” Engelmeyer said.
Engelmeyer said Weinstein gained some “relief and hope” from the appeal ruling, but knows he will face a long prison sentence in the California case and that an appeal of his conviction will not be heard for another year.
“His spirits are good, but he also knows he has a long, long journey ahead of him,” Engelmeyer said. “He knows he’s not leaving anytime soon.
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