LOS ANGELES, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- O.J. Simpson, a
former football star acquitted of murder by a jury 14 years ago, was sentenced
on Friday to at least nine years in prison for the kidnapping and robbery last
year of two sports memorabilia dealers in Las Vegas.
Under the sentence handed down by Judge Jackie Glass
at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Simpson, 61, would be eligible for
parole in 2017. The maximum time he could serve is 33 years, at which time he
would be 94 years old.
O.J.
Simpson's attorney's Yale Galanter (R) and Gabriel Grasso (L) talks to their client,
O.J. Simpson, during legal proceedings before his sentencing at the Clark County Regional
Justice Center in Las Vegas, Nevada December 5, 2008. Simpson was
sentenced on Friday to at least nine years in prison for the kidnapping
and robbery last year of two sports memorabilia dealers in Las
Vegas. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
Simpson was found guilty of kidnapping two sports
dealers and robbing them of sports memorabilia and other mementos in a Las Vegas
hotel room on Sept. 13, 2007.
In a rambling, five-minute plea for leniency, Simpson
said he went to the down-market hotel in an effort to recover family heirlooms,
including his slain ex-wife's wedding ring, to pass down to his children. He
insisted the items, which included his first wife's wedding ring, had been
stolen from him.
"I didn't mean to steal anything from anybody ... I'm
sorry. I'm sorry for all of it," Simpson said, choking back tears.
O.J. Simpson listens as
District Court Judge Jackie Glass (not in photo) reads his sentence at the
Clark County Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas, Nevada December 5, 2008.
(Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
Glass, who presided over Simpson's trial, testily
rejected his protestations.
"When you take a gun with you and you take men with
you in a show of force, that is not just a 'Hey, give me my stuff back.' That's
something else and that's what happened here," the judge said.
Simpson was acquitted by a jury in the slaying of his
ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman in 1995, although
many in the public judged Simpson guilty.
In passing down the sentence on Friday, Glass said
several times that the sentence in the Las Vegas case had nothing to do with
Simpson's 1995 acquittal.
"I'm not here to try and cause any retribution or any
payback for anything else," Glass said. But Goldman's father, Fred Goldman, and
sister, Kim, said they were delighted with the sentence.
"We are thrilled, and it's a bittersweet moment,"
Fred Goldman said. "It was satisfying seeing him in shackles like he belongs."
Simpson's defense had asked for what they said was
the most lenient sentence possible -- six to 17 1/2 years in prison. State
parole authorities had recommended at least 18 years in prison.
BEIJING, Feb. 27 (Xinhuanet) -- A memorabilia dealer who
initially said he was robbed at gunpoint by Simpson during a deal gone wrong
says he was set up and defrauded by Thomas Riccio and is now suing the
collectibles broker.
"Mr. Beardsley feels the whole thing was set up by Mr.
Riccio, and he was lured out there to a false news event," said Jack Neil
Swickard, a lawyer in Newport Beach, California, who filed the lawsuit
Tuesday."It's upset him and he thinks it's wrong."
BEIJING, Jan. 18 (Xinhuanet) -- O.J. Simpson, the former
U.S. football star acquitted of murdering his wife, returned home in Miami on
Thursday though district judge doubled his bail to 250,000 U.S. dollars
Wednesday.
Tom Scotto, Simpson's friend, raised Simpson's bail with
four other friends. Scotto greeted Simpson after his arrival at Miami
International Airport and escorted him to a waiting sport utility vehicle.
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- Las Vegas police have
launched an investigation into a casino theft involving well-known former
football star O. J. Simpson, authorities said on Friday.
Simpson is suspected of stealing sports memorabilia from a hotel room at the Palace Station Casino in Las Vegas, police said.
