Bill Cosby's Sentencing Begins Monday, Faces 30 Years In Prison

NORRISTOWN, PA — Comedian Bill Cosby will finally learn his fate this week, after being convicted of drugging and sexually assaulting a woman inside his Montgomery County home 14 years ago.

Mania descended once again upon the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown early Monday for what will be the final days — as far as the local justice system is concerned — of the highly publicized case.

Cosby, 80, was convicted in April of all three counts of aggravated indecent assault for drugging and assaulting Andrea Constand inside his Cheltenham home in 2004. Cosby faces up to 10 years in prison for each of the three counts, or 30 years in total.

The sentencing culminates the years-long case. There was a civil trial in 2005, a decision not to press charges, a decision to reopen the case, dozens of different internationally known celebrity defense lawyers, and two separate trials.

Dozens of other women have accused Cosby of similar sexual crimes, but Costand's case is the first to progress to a criminal trial.

It's not clear if Cosby will be sentenced to the maximum, or he will spend any time behind bars at all. The maximum would essentially be a life sentence, but something as minimal as court supervision, fines, and community service is possible as well. Cosby's failing health could be a factor in Judge Steven T. O'Neill's final decision.

"I really think it's important that he spend some time behind bars," Lise-Lotte Lublin, who said Cosby assaulted her when she was 23, in 1989, told the Los Angeles Times. "At some point, he should acknowledge what he's done, and do the time for the crime."

Cosby was deemed a sexually violent predator by a state board following his conviction.

"Make no mistake, because the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania put (Cosby) on the sex offender registry, the judge will throw the book at him," attorney Terrence L. Blackwell commented on Twitter.

The sentencing hearing is scheduled for both Monday and Tuesday. Things will get underway at 9 a.m.

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

• 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
  

Photo by Mark Makela/Getty Images