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Anthony Weiner Sentenced To 21 Months In Jail For Sexting A Minor

By Patricia Grannum
Published on: 03:37 PST, Sep 25, 2017

Disgraced politician Anthony Weiner has been sentenced to 21 months in prison for sexting a minor. Weiner will also have to serve three years probation when he is released. Due to the plea bargain, Weiner has agreed not to appeal a sentence of fewer than 27 months, CBS News reports. Federal prosecutors had asked the court for more than two years in jail due to the gravity of the crimes.

Weiners’ lawyers have argued that the 53-year-old former Congressman has an illness that compels him to engage in these activities and that he needs therapy, not jail time.

Weiner pleaded guilty on May 19, saying, “I have a sickness, but I do not have an excuse,” the New York Daily News reports.

His estranged wife, Huda Abedin, filed for divorce on the same day as his plea. The two have a 5-year-old son together.

As the NYDN notes, Anthony Weiner’s fall from grace began when he tweeted a picture of his “bulge” in his underwear.

When more scandalous selfies were revealed, he resigned from Congress. In 2013, during a run for New York mayor, Weiner disclosed that he had been sexting a woman named Sydney Leathers under the alias “Carlos Danger.”

Federal prosecutors later found that he had been sending sexually explicit material to a high-school student. According to the NYDN, he also encouraged her to engage in sexual conduct although he knew she was a minor.

“With full knowledge that he was communicating with a real 15-year-old girl, the defendant asked her to engage in sexually explicit conduct via Skype and Snapchat, where her body was on display, and where she was asked to sexually perform for him,” prosecutors wrote in court documents.

There’s a belief that the investigation into Weiner was a contributing factor to Hillary Clinton’s loss in the 2016 presidential election. Prosecutors found emails about the investigation of her use of a private email server while she was secretary of state on Weiner’s laptop. Former FBI director James Comey announced that he would be re-opening the Clinton email investigation 11 days before the election, a move that many believe led to Trump winning the election.

Do you think that Anthony Weiner got a fair sentence for his crimes? Do you think the investigation into his case led to Hillary Clinton’s loss in the 2016 election? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

[Featured Image by Spencer Platt/Getty Images]

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