Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

'Sick' Anthony Weiner Weeps While Pleading Guilty to Sexting 15-Year-Old

By  Ben Fractenberg and Aidan Gardiner | May 19, 2017 12:22pm 

 U.S. congressman Anthony Weiner attends pride parade on June 28, 2009, in New York City.
U.S. congressman Anthony Weiner attends pride parade on June 28, 2009, in New York City.
View Full Caption
Shutterstock

CIVIC CENTER — Anthony Weiner cried in court Friday morning while pleading guilty to sending lewd messages to a 15-year-old girl last year.

"I have a sickness, but I do not have an excuse," the disgraced ex-congressman said while choking back tears in Judge Loretta Preska's 12th-floor courtroom at 500 Pearl St.

"I apologize to the teenage girl, whom I mistreated so badly. I am committed to making amends to all those I have harmed," Weiner added.

He was released on $150,000 bail and is due back in court Sept. 8 for sentencing, officials said. He faces between 21 and 27 months behind bars.

Weiner, who represented part of Brooklyn and Queens from 1999 until his resignation in 2011, was also ordered to surrender his iPhone to authorities, according to court documents.

Weiner, a onetime mayoral favorite whose ongoing sexting scandals sunk his political prospects and are blamed by some for costing Hillary Clinton the presidency, strode into court in a blue suit while pensively biting his lip.

"I plead guilty, your honor," Weiner told Preska.

Weiner — who's separated from his wife, top Clinton aide Huma Abedin — started texting the girl in January 2016, records show. According to reports, Abedin filed for divorce within hours of the hearing.

She then leaked their lewd conversations to the Daily Mail, which published them in September.