Oscar Pistorius, the South African track star, was sentenced to five years in prison for killing his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.
Judge Thokozile Matilda Masipasaid a long sentence would lack "mercy," while a more lenient sentence would "send the wrong message to the community."
The athlete's defense team said the law under which he was punished calls for him to serve only one-sixth of the prison term–10 months–before he can be placed on house arrest. He was also given a suspended three-year term on separate firearms charges.
After serving half the sentence, Pistorius can also apply for parole.
Ms. Steenkamp's family said it was "satisfied" with the ruling, although the National Prosecuting Authority said it had not yet decided whether to appeal.
"I'm just glad it's over," June Steenkamp, the victim's mother, told reporters outside the courtroom.
Mr. Pistorius's family said it was not planning to appeal.
"We accept the judgment," Arnold Pistorius, the athlete's uncle, said in a statement, appealing to the news media to "let us move forward" and "give us some degree of dignity and privacy as we do so."
"Oscar will embrace this opportunity to pay back to society," the uncle said.
After a trial that opened in March,Pistorius seemed impassive as JudgeMasipa ordered him to rise to hear his sentence.
Virtually since the moment of the shooting,Pistorius has been free on bail, living in his uncle's luxurious mansion. But for now, Pistorius is a sentenced prisoner and will spend the night in a cell at Pretoria's main prison.Live television images showedPistorius being driven away from the courtroom in an armored police van.
In September, Judge Masipa found Mr. Pistorius, 27,guilty of culpable homicidebut she acquitted him on more serious murder charges.
The disabled athlete has admitted killing Ms. Steenkamp, 29, on Feb. 14, 2013, but he said he did so by mistake, firing four rounds from a handgun through a locked toilet cubicle door in the belief that an intruder had entered his home.
Months before the shooting, Mr. Pistorius, nicknamed the Blade Runner for the scythe-like curved prostheses he used while competing, became the first disabled athlete to compete against able-bodied contenders at the London Olympic Games in 2012. He also competed in theParalympic Games.
The International Paralympic Committee saidPistorius would not be permitted to compete in its tournaments for the full five years of the term.
There were some indications that the sentence was seen by some South Africans at least as too lenient. People cramming the street outside the courtroom told reporters that Mr. Pistorius should have been jailed for 10, or even 20, years.
"They are only scaring him with this sentence," Reuters quoted Johannes Mbatha, a 38-year-old minibus taxi driver in Johannesburg, as saying. "It shows our society hasn't transformed."
"If it was a black man, he would have never received such a light sentence," Mr. Mbatha said. "But that's how things are inSouth Africa."
Sources: News 24, NY Times