JUST IN: Bill Cosby sentenced to 3 to 10 years in prison for sexual assault

Judge Steven T. O’Neill delivered the sentence. The sentencing guidelines are between 22 and 36 months for a standard sentence. The comedian was accused of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand in 2004. He has denied any wrongdoing and claimed their encounter was consensual. While the case went to trial in 2017, a deadlocked jury failed to reach a verdict, resulting in a mistrial. The case was later retried, and The Cosby Show star was found guilty on three charges of aggravated indecent assault in April. However, counts two and three were later merged into count one during day one of the sentencing. Cosby arrived at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown, Pa. around 8:30 a.m. on Monday for the first day of sentencing. According to The New York Times, several women who accused Cosby of sexual abuse, including a few who testified against him in April, also attended. The hearing began with an examination of whether it was constitutional to label Cosby a sexually violent predator. Pennsylvania’s Sexual Offenders Assessment Board determined Cosby should be classified as such in July. According to CNN, Cosby’s attorney, Joseph Green, argued the sex offender registration law was unconstitutional and that it should not be applied to Cosby because it was punitive. Commonwealth attorney Tracy Piatkowski countered the laws were not punitive but rather required to protect the public. Per CNN, she also claimed Cosby was merely trying “to escape” registration.]]>