NEW YORK: Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison by a New York judge on Wednesday, two weeks after he was convicted of rape and sexual assault.

Judge James Burke ignored the pleas of Weinstein's defense team to give their client a minimum of five years behind bars.

Weinstein, 67, was found guilty of a criminal sexual act in the first degree and rape in the third degree on February 24, in a verdict hailed by the #MeToo movement.