Harvey Weinstein has been handed over for extradition from New York to Los Angeles to face more sexual assault charges, New York authorities said on Tuesday.
The disgraced film producer is wanted for trial on charges of attacking five women between 2004 and 2013. In Los Angeles county, he faces 11 counts of sexual assault: four of forcible rape, four of forcible oral copulation, two of sexual battery by restraint and one of sexual penetration by use of force.
Last February, Weinstein was convicted in New York for sexual assault and rape and sentenced to 23 years in prison. If convicted as charged in California, he will face up to 140 years in state prison.
On Tuesday, the New York department of corrections said: “This morning at approximately 9.25 custody of Mr Harvey Weinstein was handed over to the appropriate officials for transport to the state of California per a court order.”
In addition to appealing against his New York conviction and sentence, which his legal team calls a “de facto life sentence”, the 69-year-old has fought extradition on medical grounds.
“We will be fighting so that Harvey can receive his needed medical care and of course, so that he can be treated fairly,” his spokesperson Juda Engelmayer said on Tuesday. “Due process, presumption of innocence and a fair trial are all still his right.”
Weinstein denies the Los Angeles charges.
“Harvey Weinstein has always maintained that every one of his physical encounters throughout his entire life have been consensual,” Engelmayer added. “That hasn’t changed.”
The Los Angeles county district attorney said earlier this month it was ready to bring Weinstein to trial within four months.
Following investigations from the New Yorker and the New York Times in 2017, more than 80 women have accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct. The accusations helped spark the global #MeToo movement.
Earlier this year, Weinstein’s former production company agreed to pay $17m to women who allege sexual abuse.