Four of O.J. Simpson’s accomplices in the armed confrontation over sports memorabilia at the Palace Station hotel left the courthouse as free men. Michael McClinton, Walter Alexander, Charles Cashmore and Charles Ehrlich got off with probation for their "stupid but also criminal" actions, as District Judge Jackie Glass put it.

The thing that saved them from prison time was the fact that they collaborated with authorities on the case and pleaded guilty. At least that’s what the judge said before handing out the sentences. Prosecutors did not seek prison time for any of the four codefendants.

This happened four days after O.J. Simpson was sentenced also by Glass to prison for nine to 33 years and his codefendant Clarence "C.J." Stewart to 71/2 to 27 years. The two were convicted on October 13 on 12 charges, including kidnapping and armed robbery, stemming from an armed robbery of sports memorabilia dealers Bruce Fromong and Alfred Beardsley in a Las Vegas hotel room.

Fromong expressed his disappointment regarding the sentences for the four codefendants of the fallen NFL star. He said that McClinton stood a couple of feet from him pointing a gun to his face and barked orders at him while threatening to shoot.

“Use a gun, go to jail. That's my theory," Fromong said. The judge suspended a prison term of two to seven years.

Judge Glass said that, despite the fact that McClinton held the gun and pointed at the memorabilia dealer, he only got eight years probation because he cooperated in testifying and he had no criminal record.

Charles Ehrlich was granted six years probation, Walter Alexander got four years and Charles Cashmore received only three. All of them told the court that they were actually lured into the stick up by O.J. Simpson who wanted to retrieve some items which allegedly belonged to him.

On the other hand, Mr. Stewart’s lawyer said he found the sentence quite “interesting.” He was a bit outraged by the fact that the man who held the gun walked a free man from the courthouse, while his client, who did not even knew about the guns, is doing 71/2 years. Stewart, a 54-year-old golf buddy of O.J., “strongly considered” a plea agreement prosecutors offered during the trial but eventually refused it.

Both Simpson and Stewart plan to appeal their convictions to the Nevada Supreme Court.

However, this is not over yet. Judge Glass scheduled a hearing on December 19 for the discussion of restitution of the articles taken from the hotel room. Fromong said he was robbed of about $150,000 worth of memorabilia.