LAS VEGAS— By Tuesday afternoon, a group of tourists and convention-goers had lined a hotel bar on the famous Strip to learn of Bill Cosby’s fate.
Peering at a jumbo television screen, there were audible gasps and cheers from spectators who watched as police escorted the 81-year-old Cosby out of a Pennsylvania courthouse in handcuffs.
Brittany Scott, 39, a Ph.D. student who came to Las Vegas to celebrate her birthday with a group of friends, broke down in tears. Like many, she’s conflicted about the sentence that will put the entertainer away for three to 10 years. 
Cosby was found guilty in April of three counts of aggravated indecent assault for drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand in 2004. The punishment, which also included a $25,000 fine, came at the end of a two-day hearing at which the judge declared Cosby a sexually violent predator.
“I certainly believe that he should be punished in some form,” said Scott. “But I also am still having a hard time with the idea of sending Bill Cosby to prison, partly because I know that he’s done so much for Black people in general, and Black colleges in particular.”
Like many, Scott grew up watching “The Cosby Show” and its spinoff “A Different World”– a popular 1980s sitcom about a fictitious Black college name Hillman. Although she has never met him before, Cosby was a major influence.
Here in Vegas, the actor-comedian was a regular fixture, performing at casinos for decades.
