Bill Cosby spent Tuesday, his first night as Inmate No. NN7687, in a single cell at a state correctional facility outside Philadelphia Tuesday. He also posed for a new mugshot in his first set of prison blues.
Cosby, 81, was immediately taken into custody Tuesday after a Montgomery County judge handed down a three-to-10-year state-prison sentence for his 2004 sexual assault of Andrea Constand.
He will be permanently housed at the SCI Phoenix prison in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, according to the state's Department of Corrections website.
SCI Phoenix, a maximum-security facility, is practically brand new, having opened its doors this July. Cosby spent the night in one of the 3,830 beds at the 164-acre prison.
As a new arrival, he will be assessed by prison medical staff, psychologists and other staff. He will be allowed phone calls and visits and time for exercise.
The prison’s long-term goal is to place Cosby in the general population, officials said.
“We are taking all of the necessary precautions to ensure Mr. Cosby’s safety and general welfare in our institution,” Corrections Secretary John Wetzel said in a statement.
However, O.J. Simpson, a former convict himself, told TMZ that he had expected Cosby to be placed in protective custody because he is a target.
Simpson, who was released from a Nevada prison last September after serving nine years for a botched robbery, said, "I'm sure there will be guys protecting him but they're gonna have to put him in protective custody ... because it takes one nut, ya know?"
He added, "The problem is the nature of the crime. Rapists are frowned upon in prison."
SCI Phoenix offers multiple treatment and therapy programs, including one for sex offenders.
Although unlikely, due to Cosby's age and legal blindness, he could take one of the vocational classes offered by the prison, ranging from barbering school and custodial maintenance to carpentry and restaurant professions.
TMZ speculated on what Cosby's job in prison might be, including "maintenance (inside or outside), kitchen work, assisting infirm inmates or working in garment factories."
The convicted felon will owe $43,611.83 in court costs, according to court documents, which he was ordered to pay as part of his sentence.
He must also surrender his passport and pay a monthly offender supervision fee, according to court documents.
A member of the prosecution team from Cosby's trials says Constand, the comedian's chief accuser, told her she was happy with his sentence.
Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Kristen Feden said Wednesday on NBC's "Today" that Constand gave her strength as she went through the difficult process of prosecuting Cosby.
Feden says Constand's "courage and strength was enough for me to say, 'Let's keep going.' "
Feden also said that as she watched Cosby during the proceedings, she didn't "even know that it was clear to him that this was judgment day."
In a statement issued after the sentence was handed down, Cosby's wife, Camille, claimed that a phone recording played at trial was doctored.
On ABC's "Good Morning America," Feden's fellow prosecutor Stewart Ryan called it a "last-ditch effort to cook up an appeal issue."
Contributing: The Associated Press
