Bill Cosby sentenced to 3 to 10 years in state prison

NORRISTOWN, Pa. — Comic legend Bill Cosby, a once-beloved father figure and moralizing African American cultural icon, was sentenced to three to 10 years in state prison Tuesday in a sexual assault case that was capped by the first celebrity trial of the #MeToo era.

In his ruling, Judge Steven O’Neill said the evidence that Cosby planned the drugging and sexual assault of his victim was “overwhelming,” based on Cosby’s own words in a civil deposition.

Once the reality of the sentence sunk in, the aging comedian began to shed the trappings of his wealth. Out came his wallet, which he handed to an aide. Off came his elegant silk tie. Then he shrugged out of his bespoke dark-blue pinstripe suit jacket. He rolled up his sleeves.

There was no family member there to comfort him, so he joked and chuckled with his attorneys.

Eventually, court officials shooed everyone into the hall, but people lingered there, draped over the marble railings that ring the grand central staircase leading to Courtroom A. When Cosby finally emerged from the courtroom, he held his hands in front of him at his waist. Silver, metal handcuffs gleamed on his wrists. He clutched his skinny wooden cane awkwardly with his shackled hands.

Flanked by armed sheriff’s deputies, he disappeared through an arched doorway, bound for a holding cell — Cosby’s first stop in a journey that will take him to a state prison where he’ll be confined to a tiny cell that could have fit into the corner of a room in any of his mansions. Outside the courthouse, Cosby’s detractors hugged and cheered as a driving rainstorm blasted down.