OJ Simpson has been jailed for kidnap and armed robbery.

[Dystopian]

Source: http://news.sky.com/skynews

The former American football star had been found guilty of six charges by a jury in Las Vegas in October.

Before sentence was passed Simpson told the court he was sorry. He had been confused and admitted he had been stupid.

"In no way did I mean to hurt anybody, I didn't want to steal from anybody," he said. "I just wanted my personal things."

Simpson kidnapped two sports memorabilia dealers by holding them in a room at the Palace Station hotel and casino.

He took a gang of five men to the hotel to reclaim what he said were items stolen from him by dealers Bruce Fromong and Alfred Beardsley.



OJ Facing Jail


Four of the gang with him accepted plea deals on the charges and agreed to testify for the prosecution.

The fifth man, Clarence "CJ" Stewart, 54, was his golfing friend and co-defendant in the trial and was found guilty on the same charges.

The pair were also found guilty of stealing items from the dealers on September 13, last year.

Lawyers for both Simpson and Stewart have said they will appeal against the convictions.



OJ Simpson: The Charges
Simpson and Stewart found guilty of:

First degree kidnap
Armed robbery
Assault with a deadly weapon
Coercion with a deadly weapon
Burglary in possession of a deadly weapon
Conspiracy to commit kidnapping and robbery






Read more: http://news.sky.com/skynews

---

Finally behind bars.
Edit to update: 15 years.

peace~

[reflection]

1. Wow. Didn't expect that much. (15 yrs)

Is there a personal self-destruct story worse than OJ? What a fall.

[silverojo]

48. Wait till Bitchney Spears frees herself from her father's care

OJ only wound up behind bars. She'll wind up dead.

[dancingme]

2. OJ has left the golf course

[Shakespeare]

3. Since your OP omitted the sentence: he was given 15 years.

He could've gotten 30, and this was with a tough judge. Seems fair (with no comment about how long I really think he ought to be put away).

[Dystopian]

6. Thank you.

I went back to edit when the site updated within a couple of minutes. I'm home from work today, and heard his statement come on the news...really sickening. Made me cringe.
peace~

[ronnykmarshall]

72. The judge rocked!

She was fair and didn't play to the cameras like La Ito.

[MineralMan]

4. So, what was the sentence? Never mind....late as usual.

[truebrit71]

5. Wow...the Man finally got him...

....

[rocktivity]

7. According to the legal eagle on ESPN, he's looking at a rock bottom minmum of 8 yrs

because the judge ran the sentences consecutively. Even if he were get to parole on the 15-year sentence, he would then have to start serving time on the other charges.

That's the down side to getting away with murder--you start believing that you can get away with anything.


rocknation

[Kalifornia.Kid]

8. Eligible for parole in 6 years.

LAS VEGAS - Former football star O.J. Simpson has been sentenced to at least 15 years in prison for a botched attempt to recover sports mementos and personal items from two collectibles peddlers.

He will be eligible for parole in six years.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28067187 /

[rocktivity]

19. But after those six years, he will have to serve time on the other charges

because the judge sentenced him consecutively. According to ESPN's legal analyst, he is therefore looking at a best-case-scenario, rock-bottom minimum of eight years.


rocknation

[truthisfreedom]

9. I think it's called prison.

Just sayin'.

[Dystopian]

10. Had to use the word jail

Posting rules for breaking news to use title of article.
I only wish it was for life for the murders he committed.

peace~

[silverojo]

49. The article should've used the word "imprisoned" - n/t

[Critters2]

11. So he's looking for the real killers in the Nevada corrections system.

Huh. Who'd a thunk?

[olddad56]

13. better chance to find them there than on the golf course.

[Dulcinea]

12. Better late than never.

He should have gone to prison 13 years ago.

Karma's a bitch.

[Baclava]

56. Karma karma karma

Karma's gonna get you

[closeupready]

59. Funny how that works, huh? lol Gotta love that karma.

[classysassy]

14. Justice

if there was real justice in America,Shrub would be his cell mate.

[atreides1]

21. There is no Real Justice in America

Shrub and his lot will ride into the sunset with their pockets full, and with no worries.

As for O.J. there are people who just wanted to see him in a cell, because they felt that justice was denied in California. What they could never deal with was that the justice system worked then, because of the incompetence of a prosecution team and police investigators who dropped the ball.

The system works when the prosecution has it's shit together, and it also works when they don't.

It wasn't the system that failed, it was the people who failed the system.

I also think that no matter what, there are people both here at DU as well as on the street who just wanted to see the man locked away, for their own personal reasons.

Unless you were privy to the evidence that was presented during that trial, your personal opinions don't count for crap, so now that he's in prison maybe you can direct your thirst for justice at Phil Spector, Robert Blake, and that Peterson guy with the multiple wives?

[Wabbajack_]

66. Amen

[Hepburn]

71. Add another Amen!

There is NO place for revenge in the criminal justice system based on someone allegedly getting away with a prior crime ~~ so he/she should be convicted on something else to make up for a prior fuck up by the prosecution.

[cosmicone]

15. This is a travesty.

A Joe Shmoe committing the same crime would have received 1 or 2 years at most.

OJ is a despicable person but the system is far more despicable to punish him for crimes for which he had been found not guilty before.

[jaysunb]

16. Amen

n/t

[truebrit71]

23. Exactly. This is bullshit.

Everyone knows what this is REALLY about....

[pecwae]

24. What?

Robbery?

[BklnDem75]

30. Close

Double murder / Double jeopardy. Plain and simple.

[Raschel]

25. I agree. People don't understand that system abuses will affect everyone.

[MadHound]

27. For a kidnapping charge?

Sorry, but OJ actually got off with a fairly decent sentence for a kidnapping sentence. Hell, the max is life, this way he's eligible for parole in six years.

[Lochloosa]

35. Bullshit. Armed kidnapping. Armed robbery.

If this had happened in Florida he never would have gotten out of jail.

IMO he got off easy.

[MercutioATC]

36. There were 12 counts...including kidnapping and armed robbery.

Where do you live that they let people off with 1 or 2 years with similar charges?

[Lil Missy]

40. A "Joe Shmoe" would have received the death penalty for double homicide 13 years ago.

[-..__...]

42. Another shithouse lawyer?

Do you have any cite, evidence or proof that "A Joe Shmoe committing the same crime would have received 1 or 2 years at most", or are you just pulling that out of your ass?

IBBHB the skeptics (In Before Because He's Black).

[RBInMaine]

55. He's reaping what he's sowed. FUCK HIM !

[LostinVA]

64. Joe Schoo would bhave had an overworked PD and gotten just as much

[Richard Steele]

67. Your concern is noted.

[Javaman]

17. from naked gun to armed with a gun. nt

[eagleswing963]

18. But Bush who killed millions walks away

I mean OJ deserves it.

Maybe we can arrange a swap, OJ for Bush!

The way Goldman is on OJ's butt, he screw up again and be in jail, and everyone wins!

LIKE YOU WEREN'T THUNKING IT!

[gingersnaps1]

20. OJ is an ass. After the high profile court case he should have made sure

that he didn't so much as J-walk. Friggin' idiot.

[superconnected]

26. Agreed. Some people can't stay out of trouble. He's deserves it.

As far as people saying the average person would get 1-2 years... for kidnapping? I don't think so.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

22. The judge really summed it all up nicely

1). It's about the robbery, not anything else that you might have done in the past, that's what the sentence will be based on
2). We have it ALL on tape, you planning it, you doing it, you laughing about it later, ALL on tape, so saying that you didn;t mean to do anything wrong or hurt anyone is pretty much a pantsload

[BklnDem75]

28. Except it wasn't...

He was tried for double murder. He's going to jail for double murder. Robbery and kidnapping brought him in front of the kangaroo court. Nothing more.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

32. There's always the possibility that she said it and didn't mean a word of it, but...

...as long as she's got item #2 in her back pocket, she doesn't really have to mean what she said in #1.

I agree...it's somewhat like sending Al Capone off to jail for income tax evasion. O.J. was tried and convicted in the court of public opinion years ago. There was no way that he was going to walk away from these charges without jail time. No way at all.

[zonkers]

37. I agree. This is a slippery slope.

[mondo joe]

41. Why is this a kangaroo court? Because he was found guilty?

[BklnDem75]

45. Actually, it was a kangaroo court before the trial started,

but thanks for playing. An unarmed man looking to retrieve his stolen items is charged with robbery, later turned to armed robbery and kidnapping. Not only a jury trial, but an all white jury for the most hated man in the US. I can understand your hatred, but at least be honest with yourself.

[mondo joe]

46. I understood he held people at gun point in the act of theft. Is that not so?

Thanks for your help.

[BklnDem75]

62. No gun was recovered...

and witnesses said OJ did not have a gun. One of the guys who pleaded to a lesser charge claimed he saw OJ brandish a weapon. Everyone else disputes it.

http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN082627...

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - O.J. Simpson never drew a gun during what prosecutors say was an armed robbery of his own sports memorabilia and may not even have seen one brandished during the incident in a Las Vegas hotel room, a key witness in the case testified on Friday.

Thomas Riccio, an auction house owner who helped Simpson carry out what he called a bid to recover the ex-football star's stolen property, was testifying for a second day in a hearing to determine if Simpson and two others should face trial on a dozen charges.

Riccio, testifying under cross-examination by Simpson's lawyer, said he and the one-time "trial of the century" defendant spent weeks planning the September 13 confrontation with two sports collectors at the Palace Station Hotel and Casino.

Asked by Simpson attorney Yale Galanter if guns were ever mentioned during the planning, Riccio said: "No, never at any time in the whole six weeks did he ever mention a gun."

[rocktivity]

69. There was testimony that someone pulled a gun--it didn't have to be OJ

if he had directed the gang to pull guns on his behalf. At any rate, I guess the jury believed him--it's not a majority rules issue.


rocknation

[BklnDem75]

70. Funny how it's from the guys presented with no jail time...

and not from actual witnesses. Surprised they didn't make up something else to add onto the sentence. This jury would've believed that too.

[mondo joe]

76. But the testimony was that there was a gun, and the jury accepted it.

Right?

[MadMaddie]

44. He held people at gunpoint

That's kidnapping in every US state.....it's a crime.

He was stupid, he should have kept his dumb ass out of the public eye and out of trouble. He has no one to blame but himself, he picked the wrong state, he got the toughest judge in the state.....not much else to say...he blew it.

[jaysunb]

47. How right you are !

And, it also will be the reason he walks, on appeal. Problem for both ( Simpson & Stewart ) the Appellate Court probably will not grant bail.

[LostinVA]

65. Kidnapping, armed robbery, etc. are NOT double murder

He received a proper sentence -- these are HUGE felonies for VIOLENT crimes.

[Richard Steele]

68. You're so full of shit, if your undertaker gave you an enema he could bury you in a matchbox.

Such utter codswollop.

[Critters2]

74. That's great! I'm gonna borrow that! nt

[Richard Steele]

75. Feel free- I stole it from another DUer, sometime last year. I don't remember who.

I made a note of it at the time, so I could give him/her credit
when I used the line (and I KNEW I was gonna use that line, cuz it's awesome!)
but my life took a bit of a turn recently, and I'm no longer posting
from the computer that I stored that note on.

[daleo]

29. This gives me hope that Bush might eventually go to jail

Who knows what the future holds.

[McCamy Taylor]

31. Cullen Davis proves that OJ was always about race.

Just look at the relative lack of public interest in the Cullen Davis murder case and acquittal. Davis was another rich man who put on a thin disguise and shot his wife's boyfriend and her child and was ID'd in the act by multiple witnesses. But because he hired ace attorney "Racehorse" Haynes he got off. Later he tried to hire a hit man to have his wife killed ( as well as a divorce judge). He got off for doing that, too.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priscilla_Davis

The OJ Simpson case and follow up has always been about race.

[ForPeace]

60. Could it be

that he was a famous football player and actor?

[sniffa]

33. That ain't right

Now who's going to look for the real killer? The real killer will be able to play golf again without always having OJ hot on his tail.

[ronnykmarshall]

73. I was just thinking the same thing.

Why the other day I saw a miniature golf course .... my blood ran cold knowing that OJ could not protect me from the real killers.

[1monster]

34. According to AOL news, O.J. was sentenced to 33 years... but could get out in nine.

http://news.aol.com/article/oj-simpson-sentenced-to-pri...

Glass, a no-nonsense judge known for her tough sentences, imposed such a complex series of consecutive and concurrent sentences that even many attorneys watching the case were confused as to how much time Simpson got.

Simpson could serve up to 33 years but could be eligible for parole after nine years, according to Elana Roberto, the judge's clerk.

[pinniped]

38. His pleas before the judge were fucking pathetic.

.

[lwin]

39. As a former neighbor of Nicole, I have 3 words for OJ...

Burn baby burn

[closeupready]

57. Yep. I don't give a shit about him. And I wasn't even his neighbor.

n/t

[MadMaddie]

43. His lucky hand played out...he got one of the most serious

thoughtful and sentencing judges in the state of Nevada...

[medeak]

53. she was great wasn't she?

love love her!

[MadMaddie]

77. Ha..Ha I loved her statement

"I wondered before the trial if you were arrogant or stupid, and after the the trial I can see you are both"!!

That was the best line! Well other then the sentencing....

[silverojo]

50. How's this for ironic?

The judicial system has been after OJ for all these years, and finally got him.

Yet Bush, Cheney, et. al. are responsible for war crimes resulting in thousands of deaths...and they'll never see the inside of a prison cell.

Somehow, they make OJ look like a petty shoplifter, in comparison....

[LisaL]

52. Oh for crying out loud.

[MilesColtrane]

51. Where's your white Bronco™ now?

See?....nyahh...

[RBInMaine]

54. OJ is a sociopathic lying murderding scumbag of a criminal. LET THE BASTARD ROT IN JAIL !

[closeupready]

58. Amen.

n/t

[lunatica]

61. His life is toast

[rollin74]

63. OJ should have accepted a plea bargain

he would have received a much lighter sentence. What an idiot (his lawyer too)

Not that I feel the least bit sorry for him.