Phil Spector will spend at least 19 years in jail for the murder of actress Lana Clarkson at his Beverly Hills home back in 2003.
As expected, the legendary producer was sentenced in an LA court on Friday. And Judge Larry Fidler endorsed the prosecution's argument that Spector should receive a minimum sentence of 19 years, 15 years for the murder, and four years for related gun crimes.
As previously reported, the defence had been pushing for a sentence as low as three years, despite the statutory minimums.
Technically speaking Spector's sentence is 19 years to life, meaning he can't be paroled before 19 years, but could actually spend even longer in jail. Though that would assume he'll live past the age of 88 anyway, which few think he will.
Spector's main hope, then, is a successful appeal. The producer's legal people have already let it be known that he will appeal, with main lawyer Doron Weinberg maintaining Spector was convicted based on wholly circumstantial evidence - mainly the various testimonies from former girlfriends of how the producer could go a bit loopy when alone with women and guns. Spector, of course, maintains that Clarkson shot herself.