OJ Simpson Sentenced: "I'm Sorry For All Of It"
Former football giant OJ Simpson was sentenced on Friday in what hopefully is the last chapter of a long, sordid saga that began with a murder on a Brentwood walkway and which will probably end in a prison cell:
This was not the O.J. Simpson of old. His wrists shackled, eyes reddened and husky voice cracking, the fallen football star — who famously was acquitted of double murder in Los Angeles — was sentenced Friday to up to 33 years in prison for robbing a pair of memorabilia dealers. He will be eligible for parole in nine years.The robbery stemmed from memorabilia dealers having some of OJ's stuff, and he wanted it. He had stored many of his mementos with family and friends to keep them from becoming part of a multi-million dollar judgement against him stemming from 1997, but he didn't get it all back:Surprising even Judge Jackie Glass, Simpson delivered a tearful five-minute apology to a packed courtroom down the street from the casinos and pawnshops of downtown Las Vegas."I'm sorry. I'm sorry for all of it," Simpson said, in a moment that may have marked the end of a saga that the nation has watched for years: Simpson's journey from gridiron icon to social pariah after the deaths of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman in 1994. He was acquitted of their slayings in 1995, but a civil jury in 1997 found Simpson liable in their deaths. Simpson, 61, told the judge that he went to a down-market Las Vegas hotel on Sept. 13, 2007, to recover family heirlooms — including his slain ex-wife's wedding ring — to pass down to his children."This was the first time I had an opportunity to catch the guys red-handed who had been stealing from my family," said the NFL Hall of Fame running back, dressed in navy jail garb, his hair graying at the temples."In no way did I mean to hurt anybody, to steal anything from anybody. I just wanted my personal things," he said. When Simpson finished, his shoulders slumped and his face fell.
The former Heisman Trophy winner, Hertz rent-a-car pitchman and sports commentator was accused of leading a ragtag band of men — two carrying handguns — to confront dealers hawking mementos from him and other sports stars. "I didn't ask anybody to do anything but stand behind me, have me yell at the guys and help me remove my things," Simpson told the judge. Dist. Atty. David Roger and prosecutor Chris Owens — who said they had never tried such a high-profile case — argued that the robbery's origins could be traced to the $33.5-million civil judgment. Simpson stashed things with friends to keep them from the family, which he had nicknamed "the Gold Diggers," but he grew frustrated when the items were not returned, prosecutors said. On Friday, Simpson insisted that he was acting on behalf of his children, and said he had even told his former in-laws of his plans. "In Mr. Simpson's mind . . . what he was doing truly was a retrieval of his own property," defense attorney Yale Galanter said. "What it was, was a highly emotional, stupid act that violated the law. "Stupidity," he added, "is not criminality."And you can't fix stupid. I'd like to point out that, unlike what many seem to believe, this is not "final justice" for the murders of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson. Justice delayed is justice denied...the jury back in 1995 had their chance to put him away and they let it go, finding him not guilty (and it is important to point out here that they did NOT find him "innocent"). However, this case is forever tied to his murders, because there would have been no need to hide valuables from the families of the victims had there been no victims to start with. So there is definitely at least a sense of closure and of justice finally catching up with a man who has always believed he was above the law. I almost feel sorry for OJ...almost, but not quite. Not because he's going to jail, but because his life did not have to end up this way. He is the one who brought this upon himself; he is the one who made the decisions along the way which led to this point; he is the one who chose to do the things he's done and to not take responsibility for his actions. He had it all, and he threw it away...for what? What does he have to show for his life now? All of his sports achievements will now have an asterisk beside them. Even if he gets out early, his kids will be nine years older and will probably be off trying to further their own lives. He'll be seventy years old by the time he is eligible for parole. He is nothing more than yet another broken man, the result of a lifetime of selfish decisions, who is going to spend most--maybe even all--of his remaining days behind bars because of some very stupid actions starting way back before he even met Nicole. Nothing like snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. For what?
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