andPOP - Pop Culture With Substance

O.J. Simpson, who walked away a free man after one of the so-called murder trials of the century has been sentenced to 15 years in jail, with further conditions that may extend his imprisonment by 2 ½ years.

On October 3rd, the 61-year-old former football star was found guilty of armed robbery and kidnapping by a Las Vegas jury.

The incident leading to his conviction and then his later sentence on December 5th took place in 2007 inside the four walls of a Las Vegas hotel room, where Simpson provoked a raid to recover sports memorabilia items that he claimed were his.

Simpson’s lawyer, Yale Galanter stressed that the trial unfairly cornered Simpson during its investigations and that the results were ‘overblown charges’.

According to People’s Magazine, Nevada judge Jackie Glass who delivered the sentence made it clear that she was only sentencing Simpson for the actions for which he was currently on trial and not those of his past (referring to the 1994 murders of Simpsons ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman). “The problem is that I can’t ignore that the behavior at the time…was reckless…A gun was used…property was stolen…and now I will sentence you,” she said.

While Simpson remained calm during this delivery he did not hesitate to make an attempted apology to the court for his actions, adding that he denied knowing they were illegal to begin with.

The statement was disregarded and he was then denied bail before being escorted from the courtroom in a navy prison jumpsuit.

Anne Hathaway’s ex-boyfriend, Raffaello Follieri, was sentenced Thursday to 4 1/2 years in prison in a Manhattan federal court.

Follieri delivered a statement through an interpreter, in which he stressed that he wasn’t raised with bad values, and started off with good intentions. He also admitted that what he did was wrong and hopes to be forgiven by those he has hurt. He will to not appeal a sentence of less than 63 months in prison.

Follieri was arrested in June and pleaded guilty to 14 counts of wire fraud, money laundering and conspiracy in September. Initially, sentencing was planned for December, but the hearing was moved up to Oct. 3 after Follieri was unable to meet his $21 million bail.

Hathaway began dating Follieri in 2004, and the two broke up in June this year. Follieri was arrested in April of this year as well, for trying to pass a $215,000 bad cheque.

Kiefer Sutherland pleaded guilty on Tuesday after he was arrested for driving under the influence.

As part of his plea deal, Sutherland will serve 30 days for this DUI, his fourth, and 18 days for violating probation on his 2004 DUI arrest.

“I’m very disappointed in myself for the poor judgment I exhibited recently,” Sutherland said in a statement, “and I’m deeply sorry for the disappointment and distress this has caused my family, friends and co-workers at ‘24′ and at 20th Century Fox.”

Sutherland will start his service on December 21, while the show is on hiatus. He was also ordered to enroll in an 18-month alcohol education program and attend weekly alcohol therapy classes for six months.