Aaron Hernandez received an automatic sentence of life in prison without parole after he was found guilty of first-degree murder on Wednesday.
Aaron Hernandez sentenced to life in prison without parole
Aaron Hernandez was found guilty of first-degree murder, which carries an automatic life sentence without parole.
Jared Wickerham/Getty Images
Per Massachusetts state law, there will be an automatic appeal for the first-degree murder charge. Judge E. Susan Garsh also tacked on additional sentences of three to five years for unlawful possession of a firearm and one year for unlawful possession of ammunition. Neither are the maximum sentence for those charges.
Hernandez, 25, will now face another trial in Boston for a double homicide that occurred in 2012. He was indicted in May 2014 for the killings of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado, but the trial was delayed because Hernandez’s defense lawyers argued that they needed the time to focus on the charges for the murder of Olin Lloyd.
On Wednesday morning a jury found Hernandez guilty of two gun charges in addition to “extreme atrocity and cruelty” in the first-degree murder of Lloyd. By attaching the “extreme atrocity and cruelty” stipulation, the jury labeled the murder as being in the first-degree, despite not finding it to be premeditated. Defendants convicted of second-degree murder charges can be eligible for parole after 15 years in prison.
Hernandez played three seasons with the New England Patriots after he was selected in the fourth round of the 2010 NFL Draft. During his collegiate career with the Florida Gators, Hernandez won the 2009 John Mackey Award, recognizing the nation's top tight end, and entered the NFL Draft after his junior season.
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