“It is my honor and privilege to sentence you. You do not deserve to walk outside a prison ever again,” she added. “I just signed your death warrant.” Nassar, 54, received also a 60-year federal prison sentence in December for child pornography charges. Nassar’s minimum sentence is 40 years, and it will be served after his federal sentence expires. Prosecutor Angela Povilaitis had asked Aquilina to sentence Nassar to up to 125 years.
He will first be eligible for parole in 99 years, in 2117. He submitted a letter to the court last week in which he maintains that what he did was medical and not sexual in nature. “I was a good doctor,” he wrote. Nassar pleaded guilty to 10 counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct in November and was sentenced now for the first seven. It will be sentenced next week for the three others. Rachael Denhollander, a 32-year-old attorney and mother of three, in September 2016 was the first woman to publicly accuse Nassar of sexual assault. She criticized Michigan State for long ignoring calls for help about Nassar and for the response from the university’s leaders since her accusations became public.
