Former Flamengo star Bruno Fernandes was sentenced to 22 years in prison for ordering the murder of a former girlfriend. He was also found guilty of disposing of the body of Eliza Samudio -- her remains were fed to dogs -- and kidnapping their baby son in 2010.

Fernandes, once considered a candidate to start in goal for Brazil at the 2014 World Cup, denied ordering the killing. He said two other defendants in the case -- friend Luiz Henrique Ferreira Romao (sentenced to 15 years in jail) and former policeman Marcos Aparecido dos Santos (yet to be sentenced) -- carried out the murder.

Prosecutors said the motive for the killing was that Samudio demanded Fernandes pay child support. The case drew huge media attention in Brazil and was compared to the O.J. Simpson case that riveted American audiences.