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Actor Danny Masterson was sentenced to 30 years to life on Thursday after being convicted of two counts of rape in a Los Angeles courtroom in June, according to Assistant District Attorney Reinhold Mueller of the District Attorney’s Office. from Los Angeles.
CNN has reached out to representatives for Masterson for comment.
The ‘That ’70s Show’ star, 47, was convicted in June of two of three rape charges. The jury was deadlocked on the third count.
Masterson was taken into custody following the verdict earlier this year and received the maximum sentence for those crimes on Thursday.
Masterson had pleaded not guilty to the rape of three women at his home in separate incidents between 2001 and 2003.
Thursday’s sentence stems from the second trial in the case, which began on April 24 and went before a jury on May 17. Masterson was represented by defense attorneys Shawn Holley and Philip Cohen. Deputy DA Ariel Anson and Deputy DA Mueller prosecuted the case.
The first trial began in October 2022 and a mistrial was declared the following month after the jury was deadlocked, the district attorney told CNN at the time.
Alison Anderson, the attorney representing two of the three accusers, told CNN on Thursday in a statement following the sentencing that her clients “showed extraordinary strength and courage, in presenting themselves to the forces of the order and participating directly in two grueling criminal trials”.
Masterson is best known for his role as Steven Hyde on “That ’70s Show,” which aired for eight seasons on Fox from 1998 to 2006, and starred Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher, Laura Prepon, Topher Grace and Wilmer Valderrama.
Kutcher and Masterson also starred in Netflix’s “The Ranch” from 2016, but Netflix and producers kicked Masterson out of the show amid rape allegations. At the time, Masterson said he was “obviously very disappointed” with the decision in a statement to CNN.
News of the allegations dates back to March 2017, when journalist and former Village Voice editor Tony Ortega wrote on his ‘The Underground Bunker’ site that Masterson was under investigation by LAPD. .
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