(UPI) — The Pennsylvania Parole Board on Thursday denied Bill Cosby’s petition to be released from prison on parole.
A letter released by the board Thursday stated that Cosby, 83, failed “to develop a parole release plan” and must participate in and complete additional programs including a “treatment program for sex offenders and violence prevention.”
Cosby was sentenced to three years to 10 years in state prison in 2018 after he was convicted of aggravated sexual assault for drugging and molesting Andrea Constand at his home near Philadelphia.
The parole board said that Cosby also received a negative recommendation from the department of corrections.
The board’s decision can be reconsidered if Cosby can obtain a positive recommendation, complete the required programs and keep a clean record of conduct.
A representative for Cosby said in a statement that it was “not a surprise” that his parole request was denied.
“Mr. Cosby has vehemently proclaimed his innocence and continues to deny all allegations made against him, as being false, without the sheer evidence of any proof,” the statement read. “Today, Mr. Cosby continues to remain hopeful that the Pennsylvania State Supreme Court will issue an opinion to vacate his conviction or warrant him a new trial.”
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court is set to hear an appeal by Cosby on whether the trial judge erred in allowing prosecutors to call five other accusers to back Constand’s allegations and Cosby’s contention that he never should have been charged due to the terms of a deal made with a former district attorney.
