What Harvey Weinstein's Life In Prison Is Really Like
When Hollywood businessman Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison for multiple counts of rape in 2020, he more or less vanished from public thought. He was behind bars, justice was served, and his name could persist as a kind of moral shorthand for abuses of power. The consequences of Weinstein's actions, however — chiefly the start of the #metoo movement in 2017 — remain real and salient. Come early 2023, he had an additional 16 years added to his sentence because of another rape conviction. On April 25, 2024, his 2020 conviction was overturned on appeal, but according to the Associated Press, Weinstein will have to remain in prison to serve out his sentence for the 2023 conviction.
Whether out of genuine or morbid curiosity, some folks have wondered what kind of life Weinstein is living in prison, especially because his life will all but certainly end there. Truth be told, we don't have much information about Weinstein's day-to-day prison activities and conditions because no one's done a pointed follow-up with him to see how he's doing. We do, however, know some generalities about the facility where he's currently being held: Mohawk Correctional Facility, a medium security level prison for males. By all accounts it's a pretty sedate place with a full array of rehabilitative programs.
Weinstein has also been experiencing some debilitating health problems that caused him to appear in court in 2023 in a wheelchair. He's also complained about teeth problems and stated in 2022 that he didn't want the prison dentist removing his teeth before a court appearance because he was concerned it would ruin his appearance before the judge.
Life at Mohawk
Once again, we have no direct information about Weinstein's specific, individual activities every day at Mohawk Correctional Facility in Rome, upstate New York, east of Syracuse. In general, Mohawk is a medium security facility, the type of facility that houses a variety of convicted felons, — drug offenders, white-collar crime offenders, sexual offenders, and so forth. As the category of prison suggests, they've got reinforced walls and security — as about three-quarters of people held there have a history of violence — but are less reinforced than a maximum security facility. According to a Reddit discussion initiated by a family member of an inmate at Mohawk, Mohawk used to be a bit more rowdy but has calmed down substantially in recent years.
Currently, Mohawk houses 1,400 inmates across its buildings and 150-acre expanse of grounds, including a 112-bed medical unit that Weinstein might be taking advantage of quite often given his deteriorating health. Mohawk also has a typical suite of vocational programs, law services, sex offender treatment programs, and such, some of which it makes sense that Weinstein would be taking advantage of. This is especially true because his team of lawyers is currently in the process of trying to overturn his conviction, so he would need to consult with them on legal matters.
Back in 2020, Justin Paperny, CEO of White Collar Advice, spoke to Town & Country Magazine about Weinstein's prospective life behind bars. Notably, Paperny cited the need for Weinstein to develop some kind of daily prison routine, and the likelihood of Weinstein working with consultants to that end.
Severe teeth and health problems
We mentioned that the last time Weinstein showed up in court in 2023 he did so in a wheelchair. The 72-year-old has a whole range of health problems, including diabetes, sleep apnea, and eye issues, that Weinstein representative Juda Engelmayer characterized on USA Today as "very serious medical ailments." As for Weinstein's medical treatment at prison, we know that Mohawk received an upgrade to its facilities in 2014. Pictures of the facility on Observer-Dispatch show what you could mistake for a regular hospital, without the barred metal gates and extra locks.
And then there's Weinstein's teeth, which were described by The New York Post in 2022 as "rotten." Whether or not this is hyperbolic is unknown, although it does seem like Mohawk dentists wanted to remove some of his teeth. Whether or not the state of Weinstein's teeth is due to lapses in his personal hygiene, or indicative of the quality of healthcare at Mohawk as a whole, is also unknown. Weinstein, however, didn't want his teeth pulled because he was concerned about looking "presentable" in court. And yet, he said of his teeth in general, "I'm in pain every day. I have cavities and I can't eat because I'm missing teeth." Beyond these bare-bones facts and what they may or may not imply, the rest of Weinstein's prison life remains a mystery at present.