LAS VEGAS, Dec. 5  -- O. J. Simpson was sentenced to at least nine years in a Nevada prison Friday for holding up two sports memorabilia dealers at gunpoint in a Las Vegas hotel.

The 61-year-old former football star apologized tearfully, telling a judge he did not realize he was doing anything illegal, the Las Vegas Sun reported. He has consistently said that he was trying to recover his own property.

"This was the first time I had a chance to catch red-handed the people who were stealing from my family," he said. "I didn't mean to hurt anybody and I didn't mean to steal anything from anybody."

A jury convicted Simpson and Clarence C. J. Stewart of kidnapping, robbery, burglary and assault in October.

Thirteen years ago, Simpson was acquitted by a jury in Los Angeles in the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ron Goldman. (UPI)