Former NFL star Aaron Hernandez has been sentenced to life in prison without parole for the first-degree murder of a semi-pro football player two years ago.
The sentencing in a Massachusetts court after a four-month trial cements a spectacular fall from grace for the 25-year-old Hernandez, who once had a $US40 million, five-year contract with the New England Patriots.
The victim, Odin Lloyd, was a 27-year-old semi-pro football player whose bloodied body was found in North Attleboro, Massachusetts on June 17, 2013, less than a mile from Hernandez's luxury home.
Lloyd had been dating the sister of Hernandez's fiancee.
Hernandez glanced to the side and pursed his lips after the jury pronounced the first-degree murder conviction. His mother and fiancee sobbed in the gallery.
Dressed in a sharp suit and tie, he sat down as the jury convicted him on two separate gun and ammunition charges.
The 12-person jury had taken seven days to reach the unanimous verdict. The murder charge carried a mandatory life sentence, imposed shortly after his conviction.
Hernandez also faces murder charges for the drive-by shooting of two men in Boston in 2012.
The Patriots dropped Hernandez just hours after his arrest on June 26, 2013, nine days after Lloyd was found dead.
He has been in custody ever since.
