Washington, Dec 6 : Retired American football player O. J. Simpson has been sentenced to 33-year in prison for his role in an armed robbery in a Las Vegas hotel.

Simpson, 61, was sentenced on December 5 in Las Vegas.

Judge Jackie Glass rejected his five-minute plea for leniency and for having made a stupid mistake, and his apology for the same.

“It was much more than stupidity,” CBS News quoted Glass as saying.

Simpson kept insisting that he was simply trying to retrieve sports memorabilia and other mementos, including his first wife''s wedding ring, from two dealers when he stormed the hotel room on September 13 last year.

“I didn''t want to steal anything from anyone. ... I''m sorry, sorry,” he told the judge.

However, his plea made no impression on the judge, especially when the evidence showed that the confrontation in the hotel had been a violent one, which involved a gun being drawn.

Elana Roberto, the judge''s clerk, said that Simpson had been awarded 33-year imprisonment, but he could be eligible for parole after nine years.

“The sentencing rules bound the judge to hand out these sentences the way she did,” said CBS News legal analyst Andrew Cohen.

“The state legislators in Nevada made sure that these sorts of crimes are punished harshly, so the judge didn''t have a ton of discretion. Simpson''s fate was sealed, you could say, when prosecutors threw the book at him and jurors rejected his defence,” he added.

Simpson was immediately led away to prison after the judge refused to permit him to go free on bail while he appeals. (ANI)