According to a new report from Page Six, 79-year-old Bill Cosby is hoping to negotiate a plea deal that will allow him to avoid both a trial and prison time in one of his sex crimes cases.
A source close to him tells the New York Post’s gossip column that Bill and his family are “adamant that Bill won’t be able to convince a jury to let him off.”
A criminal trial is set for June in the case in which he’s facing three counts of felony aggravated indecent assault for a 2004 incident involving former Temple University employee Andrea Constand.
“Cosby and his family believe he’ll be eligible for a sentence of just probation… and remove the threat of him dying in prison,” the source added.
The Cosbys are also hoping, “that the district attorney will feel as though he’s won with a plea deal and they’re thinking that the DA will consider Cosby’s age, his medical condition, the fact that he’s paid the victim [in] the case millions, and the fact that his career is over.”
Most recently, a Pennsylvania judge ruled that the pearl-clutching testimony in a 2005 civil lawsuit in which Cosby admitted to giving women drugs before having sex with them is admissible, and will be used against him during the criminal trial. Cosby plans to ask his attorneys to seek a plea deal to avoid a trial.
The disgraced comedian has been charged with three counts of felony aggravated indecent assault stemming from a 2004 incident involving Constand.
In total, Cosby has been accused of drugging and raping more than 50 women.