Jerry Sandusky Sentencing: Judge to Give 10 Years to Life Jail Term
At the Jerry Sandusky sentencing on Tuesday, Judge John M. Cleland will sentence the former Penn State University assistant football coach anywhere from 10 years to 218 years--or a lifetime--behind bars for 45 counts of child sex abuse.
Sandusky is expected to read a statement he has been working on for the past three months before the judge at tomorrow's sentencing hearing. Lawyers for Sandusky has said he regrets not speaking in his own defense at his trial.
Back in June, Sandusky was found guilty of 45 counts of child sex abuse after eight boy and two eye-witnesses took the stand.
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In determining how much jail time to give Sandusky, the judge will have to decide whether the convicted child rapist should serve these individual offenses simultaneously or consecutively.
The judge will unlikely give the absolute minimum punishment of 10 years in jail. According to the Patriot-News, Sandusky could serve 72 years behind bars before being eligible for parole if the judge gives him the average sentence for each of his crimes. Cleland could also give him the most extreme sentence of 218 years in jail.
Several jurors who spoke to The Associated Press last week said they want a life sentence of Sandusky.
But Wes Oliver, a law professor and director of the Criminal Justice Program at theDuquesne University School of Law, said it's unlikely that Cleland will give the maximum punishment.
"Cleland is not a grandstander," Oliver wrote in a NBC News piece. Jerry Sandusky's "sentence may approach the century mark, but a maximum sentence seems unlikely.
Before the sentencing hearing, a hearing will be held to determine whether to label Sandusky as a sexually violent predator, which would require him to register with authorities if he were to be paroled.
His defense attorney Joe Amendola has said he thinks Sandusky will be assigned to a minimum-security facility for nonviolent people.
According to an AP report, Sandusky will be able to watch Penn State football while in prison and attend religious services. Sandusky was a regular attendee at a Methodist church in State College.
Meanwhile, a key witness in the Sandusky trial known as Victim 1 will release a book about his ordeal on Oct. 23. The victim, now 18, will also reveal his identity the same day of the book's release in an interview with ABC's Chris Cuomo.
