Anthony Weiner has been sentenced to 21 months in federal prison for sexting with a 15-year-old girl.
The former New York congressman, 53, wore a navy suit and a pale green tie during a federal court appearance in NYC on Monday, September 25. He was spotted wearing his wedding ring, despite being in the midst of a divorce from Huma Abedin, who did not appear in court to support her estranged husband.
Weiner pleaded guilty in May to one count of transferring obscene material to a minor, a felony that carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison. He will also spend the rest of his life as a registered sex offender for his text message exchanges with the North Carolina teen.
The politician’s lawyers had asked Judge Denise Cote for probation, claiming their client was “at the depths of an uncontrolled sickness” when he sent pornographic images to the underage girl and asked her to take off her clothes during a Skype correspondence.
“My regret for my crime is profound,” Weiner wrote in a letter to the judge earlier this month, via The New York Times. “I have endangered the wellbeing of a 15-year-old girl who reached out to me on the internet. My continued acting out over [the] years crushed the aspirations of my wife and ruined our marriage. I am so deeply sorry for the harm I have done to her, and I live with the sorrow that I will never be able to fix that.”wellbeing of a 15-year-old girl who reached out to me on the internet. My continued acting out over [the] years crushed the aspirations of my wife and ruined our marriage. I am so deeply sorry for the harm I have done to her, and I live with the sorrow that I will never be able to fix that.”
Weiner also apologized to his 5-year-old son, Jordan, in the letter. “The one perfect thing in my life — my son — will forever have to answer questions about the public and private failings of his father,” he wrote. “My regret keeps me awake at night and fills me with fear from the moment I awaken. There are daily, even hourly, reminders of my failings. I can’t imagine ever not feeling regret.”
The sentencing marked yet another downfall for the former mayoral candidate. In 2011, he was forced to resign from Congress after an explicit picture of himself was posted on his Twitter account. Abedin, who worked as a senior aide to Hillary Clinton in 2016, filed for divorce from Weiner in May, the same day he pleaded guilty in the sexting case.
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