Photo by marsmet551 on Flickr.

The verdict is in: former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky was sentenced to 30-60 years in jail this morning.

The decision comes after Sandusky was convicted of 45 counts of sexual abuse. Three of Sandusky’s victims testified in court, and a letter from a mother and another victim were read. Part of one victim’s testimony:

“You had the chance to plead guilty and spare us,” Victim 4 said. “Instead you decided to try to attack us. We both know exactly what happened.

I want you to know that I don’t forgive you and I don’t know that I will ever forgive you.

I grew up in a bad situation and you made things worse.

My only regret is that I didn’t come forward sooner.

I had no clue that it was happening to others. While I don’t forgive you, I ask others who were abused to forgive me for not coming forward sooner.”

Sandusky maintained his innocence throughout the entire trial, and in a series of rambling speeches Monday and today, he spoke about how much pain this has caused him and made a variety of claims, including blaming the victims for this whole thing.

Sandusky insists he is “not a monster,” and his attorneys have said they have plenty of grounds for appeal.

Pennsylvania law prevents parole before the minimum amount of jail time has passed. Sandusky is 68, which means he will likely spend the rest of his life in jail.

On Monday, the NCAA announced the penalties that Penn State would receive in response to how the University handled the Jerry Sandusky situation. And if you were a fan of the death penalty being handed out, you will enjoy this.

Sunday morning in Happy Valley, Joe Pa leaves the stadium for the last time.

While the punishment wasn’t exactly the death penalty, it was pretty close. NCAA President, Mark Emmert doled out the following: a 4-year bowl ban, fined $60 million, 90 scholarship reduction, and ALL wins from 1998-2011 will be vacated. They will also be on probation for the next 5 years. The school must also release any athlete from scholarship that would like to transfer to another institution, without penalty. So any incoming freshman who signed a letter of intent recently are allowed to transfer. Anywhere.

Many people were questioning that the NCAA were handing out penalties without what they were calling, due process. I’m not sure what other type of evidence they need in this situation and Penn State was already aware of the penalties that were coming The University signed an agreement with the NCAA on Sunday accepting them.

The scholarship reduction and 4-year bowl ban was basically the nail in the coffin for the Nittany Lions. They are now only 3 scholarships above the maximum of Division 1-A school. And what player wants to stick around with a program who can’t play in post season for four years. Joe Paterno’s win record also just went out the window. With the vacating of all wins from 1998-2011,  it removes 111 wins from the program. Paterno did sit atop of the list and now isn’t anywhere close to being at the top. Former Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden now overpasses him.

The removal of the Joe Paterno statue outside Beaver Stadium was basically a very fitting prelude to what just happen to Penn State. The school’s saying, “We are Penn State” just turned into, “We were Penn State.”

The B1G is also planning on handing on discipline on Monday and will update when news breaks.

*UPDATE* – The B1G has announced that Penn State will be deemed ineligible for conference revenue on bowl games for the next four years. 

* As of 9:00 EST on Sunday, the Joe Paterno statue HAS been removed from Beaver Stadium in Happy Valley, PA. The NCAA also announced that on Monday morning, they will hand out unprecedented punishment to the University and the football program. Stay tuned..*

It was being reported Friday morning that Penn State has plans to remove the Joe Paterno statue that resides on campus in Happy Valley, PA. As of right now, only one source has reported it via twitter, Kimberly Jones with the NFL Network.

It was just last week that the school released a statement saying that they have taken no action (vote or decision) in regards to removing the statue. Earlier this week a plane flew over Penn State with a banner that may changed their tune. The banner read: “Take the statue down, or we will.”

The sculptor of the life-size Paterno statue wants the University to wait before making any final decisions on whether or not to remove it. “I think we should all wait on it. Put a cover on it,” Angelo Di Maria said. ‘”Let’s see how everyone feels in six months or a year.”

If the speculation is true, the wait is over. The statue was a place of gathering last year for Penn State students and fans outside of Beaver Stadium during the climax of the Sandusky happenings and then again after Paterno’s death.

Will update the article once official word comes out of Happy Valley.

Image courtesy of HollywoodReporter.com.

In a courtroom in Pennsylvania, it only took a jury twenty-one hours to determine the outcome of a case that included forty-eight charges.

Jerry Sandusky was declared guilty on forty-five of the forty-eight counts, with a maximum time in jail of 442 years. Although the children affected will never be able to erase this from their memories, the conviction will surely give them – and parents everywhere – at least a little peace of mind tonight.

Although we don’t know his sentence yet – that will come later – it’s fairly safe to predict that Sandusky will likely spend the rest of his life in prison. He left the courthouse in handcuffs, seated in the back of a police car. The crowd outside the courthouse erupted into cheers as the verdict came down, applauding and whooping as they celebrated justice being served.

We’ll have more here on Neutral Zone as more information comes out, including Sandusky’s sentencing.