'I just signed your death warrant:' Judge sentences Larry Nassar to up to 175 years in prison after picking apart his damning letter

Carlos Osorio/AP

• Former USA Gymnastics and Michigan State doctor Larry Nassar was sentenced to up to 175 years in prison on sexual assault charges.
• During the sentencing, Judge Rosemarie Aquilina re-read a letter Nassar wrote, saying it proved he did not "get it" and was not sincere in his apologies for his actions.
• Aquilina told Nassar, "I just signed your death warrant" after giving him his sentence.

Former USA Gymnastics and Michigan State doctor Larry Nassar was sentenced on Wednesday to 175 years in prison on sexual assault charges.

Nassar's sentencing in Ingraham County Circuit Court lasted over a week, with over 100 women giving victim-impact statements about Nassar's assault and molestation. Nassar was sentenced to 60 years in prison in December for child pornography charges.

On Wednesday, Judge Rosemarie Aquilina re-surfaced a letter Nassar wrote about the sentencing. She had previously read the letter during the sentencing. In the letter - it's unclear to whom it was addressed - Nassar said he didn't think he could "mentally" handle four days of victim-impact statements. He also said Aquilina had made the sentencing a "media circus."

Aquilina on Wednesday said she wanted to bring the letter back up because she believed its contents showed that Nassar's apology was not sincere.

In the letter, Nassar insisted his treatments on young girls were medical, not sexual. He criticized the attorney general in the case and Aquilina - at one point writing "Hell hath no fury like a woman's scorn" - over the handling of the case.

Aquilina said the letter proved that Nassar did not "get it." Aquilina called Nassar "manipulative," saying he knew he had a problem and did not distance himself from the situation.

"I wouldn't send my dogs to you, sir," Aquilina said.

"Your decision to assault was precise, calculated, manipulative, devious, despicable. I don't have to add words because your survivors have said all of that."

Upon sentencing Nassar, Aquilina said: "I just signed your death warrant."

On Wednesday, Nassar read an apology statement, saying: "I will carry your words with me for the rest of my days ... There are no words to describe the depth and breadth of how sorry I am for what has occurred. An acceptable apology to all of you is impossible to write and convey."

Aquilina called it her "privilege" to sentence Nassar and credited the victims' statements and the media's handling of the case.

"Sir, you do not deserve to walk outside of a prison ever again," Aquilina said.