Bill Cosby To Serve Prison Sentence At SCI Phoenix In Montco

SKIPPACK TOWNSHIP, PA -- On Tuesday morning, Bill Cosby strode into Montgomery County Courthouse with hopes of walking away with house arrest or some equivalent slap on the wrist for the sexual crimes of which he's been convicted. By Tuesday afternoon, he was led out in handcuffs, and by the time the day was over, he was settled in his new home for the next three to 10 years: State Correctional Institute Phoenix.

The state-of-the-art SCI Phoenix opened just this summer to replace the aging Graterford prison. At $400 million, it's the most expensive prison in the state and the most expensive state building of any kind in Pennsylvania. But it's state prison.

Once a comedian, once an icon, Cosby has been allocated a new identity in Phoenix: inmate number NN7687.

The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections said that to begin with, he's been assigned a single cell in a unit that is adjacent to the infirmary area.

>>Bill Cosby Sentenced To State Prison

On Wednesday, officials said he was being processed and that he had meetings scheduled with the medical, psychological, and records departments.

“We are taking all of the necessary precautions to ensure Mr. Cosby’s safety and general welfare in our institution,” Corrections Secretary John Wetzel said in a statement.

Cosby will be allowed phone calls and visitors, and can exercise during appointed times. Though he is not yet going to be regularly mingling with other inmates, Wetzel said that is the goal.

"The long term goal is for him to be placed in the general population to receive the programming required during his incarceration," Wetzel added.

>>Thousands Of Inmates Begin Move From Graterford To New Prison

Cosby's lawyers are appealing his sentence. On Tuesday in Montgomery County Court in Norristown, they asked Judge Steven T. O'Neill for bail while the appeal went through, and O'Neill said no.

In addition to his prison sentence, Cosby must pay a $15,000 fine and the cost of his trial, which was around $219,000.

"Justice arrived today," DA Kevin Steele said in a press conference following the sentencing. "Bill Cosby has been unmasked."

During the hearing Tuesday, Cosby was also officially declared a sexually violent predator, as the court agreed with a recommendation made by a state board over the summer. That means that even once Cosby is released, he must report his address to police and undergo counseling for the rest of his life.

Catch up on the Cosby case with Patch's coverage below:

• Bill Cosby Sentenced To State Prison
• Other Accusers Of Bill Cosby Cannot Testify At Sentencing: Judge
• Cosby Team Calls For Judge's Recusal Ahead Of Sentencing
• State Board Deems Bill Cosby 'Sexually Violent Predator'
• Bill Cosby Found Guilty On All Charges
• Celebrities, Leaders React As Bill Cosby Found Guilty
• William Henry 'Bill' Cosby: Charges of Deception, Drugs, Wine, and Sexual Assault

Cosby mugshot via Pennsylvania Department of Corrections