The drug war has struck again, and this time finds Sam Hurd as the victim. The government had recommended a life sentence without parole, but the judge changed the sentence to 15 years in a federal prison. He has been in a battle with the U.S. Attorney’s office and Immigration and Customs Enforcement for over two years now, and the decision finally puts the case to rest.

Hurd is a former NFL wide receiver who played for both the Dallas Cowboys and the Chicago Bears. During the trial, Sam Hurd stood before U.S. District Court Judge Jorge A. Solis, on Wednesday in federal court in Dallas. He pleaded for a second chance, and begged for forgiveness for the admittedly stupid things that he did.

He was sentenced for a crime that included starting a drug-distribution scheme while playing for the Chicago Bears, ending his career in football, and much of his future. He tried to buy and distribute large amounts of both marijuana and cocaine. Although it was during the time that he was a member of the NFL, the prosecutor in the case, John Kull said “He’s not being prosecuted because he’s an NFL player. He’s being prosecuted because he’s a drug dealer.”

In the arrest that was made in 2011, Hurd told an undercover agent that he wanted 5 to 10 kilograms of cocaine and 1,000 pounds of marijuana per week to distribute in the Chicago area. At the time, he claimed to have already been distributing 4 kilograms per week.

#Sam Hurd was sentenced today and it will be 15 years before his first parole hearing. :-/ Dirt bag got off easy. Should have been life.

— Gary Geer (@GaryGrillmaster) November 14, 2013

Sam Hurd only got sentenced to 15 years today… Can get out in 13. #JusticeSystemFlaws #SamHurd

— Sean Furman (@zetaphi1057) November 14, 2013

He continued to plead, and begged Solis for a second chance, promising to be an upstanding citizen, and loving husband and father. He knows what he did was wrong, and simply wants to write his wrongs. In court, he said “My life is a train wreck because of the bad decisions I made. I was extremely stupid. I feel the pain I caused my wife, mother, father, sisters and brothers and my community.”

This sam hurd story is intense boy was low key trying to be a king pin fo real…

— (O'Bryan) (@young_red84) November 14, 2013

Unfortunately for Sam Hurd, none of his teammates were able to make the trial, and his former teammate and star running back Marion Barber was supposed to attend, but missed his flight and was upset that he could not support his close friend.

At only 28-years-old, Sam Hurd will be forced to serve 15 years in prison for his crime, but luckily it is much less than what he could have been given. He pleaded the case for a second chance, and will likely be a changed man once he gets out.

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