USC's copy of O.J. Simpson Heisman Trophy returned, per report

A man arrested in connection with the theft of a duplicate of O.J. Simpson's Heisman Trophy more than 20 years ago from the University of Southern California has been sentenced to three years' formal probation, The Los Angeles Times reported.

A judge sentenced 57-year-old Lewis Eugene Starks of Apple Valley, California, on June 30 after he pleaded no contest to one count of receiving stolen property.

The Times said Starks initially pleaded not guilty to the felony count in September, but changed his plea last month.

Police recovered the trophy in late 2014 after Starks tried to sell it, Los Angeles County prosecutors said. It was held by the Los Angeles district attorney's office and police during the case, and then returned to the university on Wednesday, according to the paper.

The trophy, a Simpson jersey and a plaque were stolen from a display case in a burglary at the university in 1994 while Simpson was awaiting trial in the killings of his ex-wife and her friend Ron Goldman. Simpson was acquitted of murder the following year.

The Heisman, awarded to the most outstanding college football player, was a duplicate given to the university in 1968.

Simpson's own trophy was seized under a $33.5 million judgment after a civil court jury found him liable for the deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Goldman.

Simpson is in a Nevada prison for an armed heist in a Las Vegas casino hotel room in 2007.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.