Bill Cosby speaks from prison: "They're not going to hear me say that I have remorse"

Former comedian and serial rapist Bill Cosby was found guilty on three counts of aggravated indecent assault in April last year after a heated jury trial. He has since been serving his prison sentence of three to ten years at the State Correctional Institution — Phoenix in Skippack Township, Pennsylvania. Speaking from the single cell he is now confined to for the first time since he began serving his sentence, Cosby told Black Press USA that no one should expect him to feel remorse about the terrible crimes he committed. Furthermore, he claimed that his trial was all a "set up."

"I have eight years and nine months left," he said. "When I come up for parole, they’re not going to hear me say that I have remorse. I was there. I don’t care what group of people come along and talk about this when they weren’t there. They don’t know." According to Cosby, the trial was unjust and biased. He claimed, "It’s all a set up. That whole jury thing. They were imposters." While it can be argued that the justice system is prejudiced on the basis of race, especially considering the lenient sentence sexual predator Harvey Weinstein was handed in comparison to Cosby's, there is no doubt that the punishment meted out to the latter was fair and justifiable.

Nonetheless, he continued, "Look at the woman who blew the whistle," referring to the potential juror who allegedly overheard a seated juror state prior to the trial that 'he’s guilty, we can all go home now.' Then she went in and came out smiling, it’s something attorneys will tell you is called a payoff," he went on. In addition to showing absolutely no remorse for his actions, Cosby shared that he thought of himself as a "privileged man in prison." Thinking himself a political prisoner, he said, "I know what they’ve done to my people. But my people are going to view me and say, ‘That boy looks good. That boy is strong.’ I have too many heroes that I’ve sat with. Too many heroes whom I listened to like John Henrik Clarke, Kenneth Clark, and Dorothy Height. Those people are very strong, and they saw the rejection of their people. This is political. I can see the whole thing."

However, he is no more privileged than the other inmates at the correctional facility. Just like his peers at the maximum-security Pennsylvania penitentiary, he received no special treatment from the facility for the interview with Black Press USA. As all inmates are only allowed 15 minutes per phone call, the interview had to be conducted over multiple phone calls. At present, unless he is granted some form of relief from the state’s appellate courts, Cosby expects to serve the full ten-year sentence awarded to him.