OJ Simpson sentenced to Fifteen years in prison

OJ Simpson, a former American football star has been sentenced to Fifteen years in prison after been found guilty of kidnapping two sports memorabilia dealers in a room at the Palace Station hotel and casino in Las Vegas before stealing from them in September 2007.

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
Simpson's two attorneys Yale Galanter and Gabriel Grasso mounted strong appeals for clemency before an emotional Simpson stood up and 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 by the Goldman's family, which won $33.5m in damages from Simpson in a civil case over the deaths of Brown and Goldman. "I didn't mean to steal anything from anybody ... I'm sorry. I'm sorry for all of it," Simpson said, choking back tears.

The charges included two of first degree kidnapping, two of armed robbery, two of assault with a deadly weapon, two of coercion with a deadly weapon, burglary while in possession of a deadly weapon and conspiracy to commit a crime, kidnapping and robbery.

The presiding Judge Jackie Glass, testily rejected his protestations as he said "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 also said "I'm not here to try and cause any retribution or any payback for anything else" as he declared that the sentence in the Las Vegas case had nothing to do with Simpson's 1995 acquittal.