(CNN) In his first public statement from prison, Bill Cosby said he will never have remorse for his crimes and called himself a political prisoner. "My political beliefs, my actions of trying to humanize all races, genders and religions landed me in this place surrounded by barb wire fencing, a room made of steel and iron," the comedian said in a statement released through his press spokesman, Andrew Wyatt. Cosby, 81, also noted that his cell at SCI Phoenix, the prison outside Philadelphia where he is serving his sentence, "resembles the quarters of some of the Greatest Political Prisoners -- Martin Luther King Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Randal Robinson, and Dr. Benjamin Chavis." Cosby's statement was made public Wednesday after Wyatt spoke with WCAU in Philadelphia for a TV interview and revealed new details about the comedian's time behind bars. Cosby, once known as "America's Dad," was sentenced in September to three to 10 years in prison for drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand at his home in 2004.

Source: CNN February 13, 2019 22:36 UTC