Bill Cosby Hits Major Legal Roadblock

Bill Cosby was denied parole to be released from prison. In 2018, the actor was sentenced 3 to 10 years in prison after he was convicted of aggravated indecent assault which took place in 2004. According to TMZ, a Pennsylvania Parole Board noted there were a number of factors that they considered before making their decision.

One reason Cosby was denied is because he refused to participate in a treatment program designed for sex offenders. He also did not put together a parole release plan, and what was the final straw in their decision-making was the fact that he did not receive a positive recommendation from the Department of Corrections; instead, he got a negative one. But Cosby isn't surprised by the denial. According to his representative, Andrew Wyatt, board members informed the actor that he would be denied if he did not participate in the program, and since he didn't, he will remain behind bars. Just because he didn't win this time, it's being reported that he has hopes that the Pennsylvania State Supreme Court will grant him a new trial.

Judge Steven T. O'Neill was the one who oversaw his case and noted that he had a duty to treat him like everyone else who comes into his court. "I'm not permitted to treat him any differently based on who he is or who he was," O'Neill said during a sentencing according to the outlet at the time. While he was sentenced to prison, he was also fined $25,000.

Prior to Cosby's sentencing, he was convicted of three counts of aggravated assault after allegations were made by Andrea Constand, who is a former Temple University employee who stated that the 83-year-old sexually assaulted her in 2004 after drugging her. "Three blue pills. And he put his hand out and I said, 'What are those?' And he said, 'They'll help you relax,'" she recalled.

"And I said, 'Are they natural? Are they, like, and herbal remedy?'" she continued. "And he said, 'No, they're your friend. Just put them down.'" Constand then noted that after 30 minutes, she was slurring her words and said she couldn't stand at that point, with Cosby then taking advantage of the situation and assaulting her. "I was crying out inside, in my throat, in my mind, for this to stop," she said. "And I couldn't do anything." Despite such claims, Cosby's wife Camille Cosby called the jury's final decision "mob justice."