OJ co-defendants get probation

2008-12-10 09:42

Las Vegas - Four men who pleaded guilty to reduced charges in exchange for testifying against OJ Simpson at his robbery-kidnapping trial were sentenced on Tuesday to probation, drawing a loud protest from a sports memorabilia dealer they held at gunpoint in a Las Vegas hotel room.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Bruce Fromong exclaimed after Clark County District Court Judge Jackie Glass sentenced Michael McClinton to eight years' probation. McClinton, 50, testified that he supplied two guns and brandished one during the September 13, 2007, confrontation.

"Get him out of the building," Glass said of Fromong. She did not let Fromong address the court before sentencing.

Glass lectured the four defendants but accepted a state recommendation that they serve no prison time. She handed probation terms of six years to Charles Ehrlich, four years to Walter Alexander and three years to Charles Cashmore.

The sentences were much lighter than those meted out on Friday to Simpson and Clarence "CJ" Stewart, the only co-defendant who stood trial. Glass sentenced Simpson to nine to 33 years in prison and Stewart to seven to 27 years.

Although Simpson was in prison 72km away on Tuesday, his presence dominated the hearing.

Robert Dennis Rentzer, Alexander's attorney, said it was Simpson's charismatic personality that led the men astray last year when they confronted Fromong and fellow memorabilia dealer Alfred Beardsley in an attempt to retrieve Simpson mementos the collectibles dealers were trying to peddle.

'OJ Simpson was the snake charmer'

"On that day, everybody was a snake. OJ Simpson was the snake charmer," Rentzer said. "The man has charisma. There is something about him that captures individuals and draws them into his circle."

The four sentenced on Tuesday originally faced charges similar to Simpson and Stewart, but after their plea deals, the probation department recommended no prison time.

Fromong later said he was upset about McClinton's sentence because he had pointed a gun in his face.

"Use a gun, go to jail. That's my theory," Fromong said.

Glass noted that the quartet included two friends, an acquaintance and one total stranger - Cashmore, 47, of Las Vegas, who went along at the last minute and received the lightest sentence.

Alexander, 47, an old friend of Simpson's, agreed to help the former football star get his possessions back, and took a gun along at Simpson's request but never drew it, said his attorney, Rentzer.

McClinton, of Las Vegas, knew Simpson well enough to feel compassion for the fallen star, said McClinton's attorney, William Terry. Sometimes when they were together, he said, Simpson would be stopped by people asking to take a photograph with him.

'He played his role'

"He accommodated them and then the person would turn around and make disparaging remarks about his other case," Terry said, referring to Simpson's 1995 acquittal in Los Angeles in the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman.

When Simpson said he wanted to retrieve family photos, "It hit the heartstrings of Mr McClinton," Terry said.

"He brought a gun. He was asked to. He looked menacing. He played his role."

Glass noted that Ehrlich, 54, a close friend of Simpson's from Miami, had spent time in prison but had been crime-free for over 20 years before sentencing him.

All four were ordered to do community service.

- AP