Looks like the second time around, O.J. Simpson, who was convicted in October on 12 counts including kidnapping, armed robbery and burglary, was far from lucky and he was sentenced to fifteen years in prison on Friday. Nine years will have to pass before he will be eligible for parole.

In an usual turn of events, Simpson issued an apology statement to the judge just before the sentence was handed down, insisting he was innocent. However, his insincere and arrogant tone failed to impress the judge who rejected his contribution.

The former football star, who was acquitted of murdering his wife and her friend in what was probably the most-watched murder trial of the 20th century, was found guilty of kidnapping two sports memorabilia dealers in a Palace Station Hotel room in Las Vegas in September 2007. Simpson's co-conspirator in the crime was also sentenced. Ron Goldman’s father was in the courthouse, as were O.J.’s children from his marriage to Nicole Brown.

A Las Vegas jury convicted him on Oct. 3 of all 12 criminal charges, including armed robbery, burglary, kidnapping, assault, conspiracy and coercion stemming from the alleged robbery. Of all the crimes, the worst were two counts of first-degree kidnapping with a deadly weapon, which carried a maximum sentence of life in prison.

"I didn't want to steal from anyone," an emotional Simpson told the judge before sentencing. "I'm sorry, sorry."

Judge Jackie Glass ignored Simpson's attorneys' pleas for leniency and denied his request to be released on bail pending his appeal, saying she believed Simpson was a flight risk.

"That was a violent event. Guns were brought. At least one gun was drawn. The potential for harm to occur in that room was tremendous," Glass said, adding that Simpson's 1995 murder acquittal had no bearing on this case, whether she "disagreed with it or not." Glass said she wanted to be "perfectly clear" that there was no retribution in her decision.

Admitting that what he did was indeed "stupid," Simpson insisted that he meant no harm and he was simply trying to retrieve sports memorabilia and other mementos, including his first wife's wedding ring, from the two dealers when he burst in their hotel room with some of his "buddies," omitting the fact that they were armed.

"This was the first time I had the opportunity to catch these guys red-handed who'd been stealing from me and my family…In no way did I mean to hurt anybody or steal anything from anyone. I didn't want anybody else's stuff, I wanted my own," he said.

But the evidence spoke for itself, and it was overwhelming, with the planning, the confrontation itself and the aftermath all recorded on audio or videotape.

Once the sentences were read, Simpson and Stewart, who were dressed in prison-issued gray coveralls, were led out of the courtroom and back to jail.