O.J. Simpson was sentenced to 15 years in prison with a minimum of 9 years for a Las Vegas robbery.
Ron Goldman's family was "thrilled" with the O.J. sentence. There were no African-Americans on the O.J. Simpson Las Vegas jury. The judge mentioned about "retribution" or "payback" for the 1995 murder trial before reading the verdict. O.J. Simpson's legal team is expected to appeal the verdict.
Judge Jackie Glass ordered the shackled Simpson be returned to jail immediately, rejecting an application for bail pending an appeal.
She told him he would not be eligible for parole for at least five years.
The 15-year sentence, handed down for kidnapping with use of a deadly weapon, could be followed by a consecutive sentence of up to 72 months, she added.
The sentencing followed an emotional appeal by Simpson in which the one-time American football star told the court he was sorry for his actions, had never meant to hurt anyone and was just trying to retrieve personal items when he and five cohorts confronted two sports memorabilia dealers.
But Ms Glass insisted the 61-year-old had taken part in a "violent event" in which "guns, were brought, at least one gun was drawn [and] the potential for harm to occur "was tremendous".
Rejecting his contention his actions were wrong-headed rather than criminal, she said: "I have to tell you now it was much more than stupidity. You went to the room, you took guns – you used force, you took property whether it was yours or somebody else's and in this state that amounts to robbery with a deadly weapon."
Simpson was convicted of 12 counts in relation to the botched raid in October, 13 years to the day he was dramatically acquitted of murdering his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman, in Los Angeles.
The judge stressed that despite the fact many disagreed with the 1995 verdict, she accepted it and was not sentencing Simpson for what had happened "in his life previously in the criminal justice system" but solely for the events that took place in Las Vegas. source
O.J. Hardball
Fallen football legend O.J Simpson, cleared more than a decade ago of killing his ex-wife, may now end his days behind bars after being jailed for up to 33 years Friday for armed robbery and kidnapping.
After analyzing judge Jackie Glass's complicated sentencing for 10 convictions, Simpson's lawyers said the minimum time the 61-year-old could serve before being eligible for parole would be nine years, and the maximum would be 33.
Earlier Simpson had apologized to the judge for the September 2007 robbery at the Palace Station hotel in Las Vegas.
"I did not know that I was doing anything illegal. I thought that I was confronting friends and retrieving my property. So I am sorry. I am sorry for all of it," Simpson said, his voice trembling as he fought back tears.
Simpson was found guilty for his role in the 2007 raid in which he and five friends, two of them carrying weapons, stormed a room in the Las Vegas hotel, locked the doors and robbed two dealers of a trove of sports memorabilia.
Simpson, shackled and dressed in a blue prison uniform, said he had been trying to get back personal items he said had been stolen from his family.
"Property that over the years we have seen being sold on the Internet, and we have seen pictures of ours that were stolen from our home going into the tabloids," he said.
But judge Glass dismissed Simpson's excuse that he had acted out of stupidity. "That was actually a very violent event," she said.
"Guns were brought, one was displayed. The potential for harm to occur in that room was tremendous ... This was not just a legitimate 'give me my stuff back.' This was something else," Glass said.
The heaviest single sentence she imposed was 15 years for each of two charges of kidnapping to run concurrently.
His co-accused Clarence Stewart, 54, who took part in the raid, was also sentenced to 15 years for the same charges, as emotional friends and relatives looked on from the public gallery.
Simpson's October 3 conviction came 13 years to the day after he was acquitted in his controversial 1995 trial of murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ron Goldman.
"It's kind of a bittersweet moment knowing that that S.O.B. is going to be in jail for a very long time," said Fred Goldman, the father of Ron Goldman.
"He'll never change, and he's going to stay in jail for a very long time," he said, before adding: "There is never closure. Ron is always gone." source
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