Ex-Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky will get a new sentence but not a new trial, Pennsylvania's Superior Court ruled Tuesday.
The former assistant football coach was sentenced in 2012 to 30-60 years in prison on 45 counts of child sex abuse. But under a 2013 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, the Pennsylvania court decided Sandusky was eligible for a new sentence, reports the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Seeing as Sandusky was sentenced at age 68, he was essentially sent to prison for life. But that decision was made under 2012's standards for mandatory minimums. The 2013 Supreme Court case Allenye v. United States "required that a judge cannot use mandatory minimum sentencing on an offense that was not specifically decided by a jury," Yahoo Sports explains. Sandusky's lawyers successfully argued to apply Allenye to Sandusky's case because it was decided before Sandusky's appeal was finalized.
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It's uncertain whether a new sentencing will significantly change Sandusky's fate, his defense lawyer tells NBC News. Sandusky is 75, and originally faced a maximum sentence of 442 years in jail. Still, Sandusky intends to keep fighting for a new trial — something the judge opted not to grant him on Tuesday.
Sandusky has maintained his innocence since a grand jury probe exposed the massive sexual molestation scandal in 2011. Under the current sentencing, he would have to serve 30 years before being eligible for parole, per Yahoo Sports. "Realistically, even if Jerry was to survive the 30 years, he won't be released," Sandusky's attorney at the 2012 sentencing said at the time.
