Bill Cosby sentenced to state prison in Pennsylvania

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Pa. -- (WPMT) --

The judge has sentenced Bill Cosby to three to 10 years in state prison, sources in the courtroom say.

“This was a serious crime,” Montgomery County Judge Steven T. O'Neill said Tuesday. “Mr. Cosby, this has all circled back to you. The day has come, the time has come.”

Cosby's bail was revoked and he was to be taken into custody, Judge O'Neill ruled.

Cosby's attorneys have filed an appeal in the case. He also was ordered to pay a fine of $25,000 plus the costs of prosecution as part of the sentence.

O'Neill earlier ruled that Bill Cosby will be classified as a “sexually violent predator” on Tuesday ahead of his sentencing in what could be his last day out of prison.

Cosby, convicted in April of sexual assault, declined to speak to the court ahead of the expected sentence from Montgomery County Judge Steven O'Neill.

Montgomery County prosecutors asked a judge on Monday to sentence Cosby to five to 10 years in prison for the 2004 sexual assault of Andrea Constand, saying he had shown “no remorse” for his actions. However, Cosby's defense attorney, Joseph P. Green, asked for a sentence of house arrest, citing Cosby's advanced age and blindness.

The state sentencing guidelines indicate 22 to 36 months in prison, plus or minus 12 months because of aggravating or mitigating circumstances. However, judges are allowed to issue sentences beyond those guidelines.

“Sexually Violent Predator” status requires lifetime registration, lifetime mandatory sex offender counseling with a treatment provider and notification of the community that a “sexually violent predator” lives in the area. It does not impact the length of the actual sentence.

If he must serve time, he could be taken into custody immediately after the judge pronounces the sentence.

Cosby was convicted in April of three counts of aggravated indecent assault for drugging and assaulting Constand at his home in 2004, in the first high-profile celebrity criminal trial of the #MeToo era.