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OJ Simpson given lengthy prison term
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-12-06 10:09




O.J. Simpson stands next to attorney Yale Galanter as they listen 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.[Agencies] 

Simpson has been in custody since he was convicted of the hotel room robbery on October 3.

That was exactly 13 years after his controversial 1995 acquittal in Los Angeles of the murder of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman, who were found stabbed and slashed to death in June 1994.

A civil court jury later found Simpson liable for the deaths and awarded $33.5 million in damages to the victims' families, a judgment that remains largely unpaid.

Simpson in Shackles

Goldman's father Fred and other family members, who have pursued Simpson for years in court and in the media, were present for the sentencing and celebrated the decision.

"We are thrilled. It is a bittersweet moment knowing that that S.O.B. (son of a bitch) is going to be in jail for a very long time. It was satisfying seeing him in shackles like he belongs," said Fred Goldman, father of Ron Goldman.

Denise Brown, sister of Simpson's slain ex-wife, added her family had "mixed emotions" about the sentence because of Simpson's two children with Nicole -- Sydney and Justin, who are both in their 20s.

"Our hearts are saddened that they once again face the tragedy of yet another parent absent in their lives," Brown said.