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South African Olympic and Paralympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius enters a police van after his sentencing at the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria October 21, 2014.SIPHIWE SIBEKO/Reuters

In one of the world's most unequal societies, a black woman from an impoverished family in Soweto, South Africa, has ruled that the "rich and famous" cannot be above the law. And so a wealthy white celebrity is now in a prison cell.

Thokozile Masipa, one of the first black female judges in South African history, has handed down a five-year prison sentence to the disgraced Olympic hero Oscar Pistorius. Her ruling was influenced by concerns about inequality and wealth in this post-apartheid society, but it is unlikely to quell allegations of what one local newspaper called "chequebook justice."

Justice Masipa said the once-celebrated "Blade Runner" must serve prison time for culpable homicide for killing his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, by shooting her through a bathroom door. She rejected defence arguments that Mr. Pistorius should be allowed to serve "house arrest" at the palatial 24-room mansion of his uncle.

"It would be a sad day for this country if an impression were to be created that there was one law for the poor and disadvantaged, and another for the rich and famous," the judge said in her sentencing on Tuesday.

She ruled that Mr. Pistorius was guilty of "gross negligence" for firing a burst of four gunshots into a small bathroom cubicle while knowing there was "no room for escape" for the person behind the door.

But the reality is that wealthy defendants, in South Africa as elsewhere in the world, have a huge advantage in the justice system. One South African newspaper, City Press, estimated that the Pistorius family has spent about $375,000 on lawyers alone during the 47-day trial. He was able to afford some of the best criminal lawyers in South Africa, along with an extensive team of expert witnesses and other consultants.

That money helped Mr. Pistorius avoid a murder conviction, but it did not save him from a prison sentence.

On Tuesday, moments after the sentencing decision, he was escorted into a holding cell below the Pretoria courthouse, and then he was taken in a police van to Kgosi Mampuru II prison, where he will be held in a hospital cell because of his disability as a double-amputee.

Anything that smacks of a two-tier justice system is an inflammatory issue in South Africa, where apartheid is only 20 years in the past. There was widespread anger among many South Africans when Justice Masipa acquitted Mr. Pistorius of murder. In explaining her rejection of the defence request for house arrest, Justice Masipa emphasized that there must be public trust in the justice system. But outside the court building on Tuesday, a black man in mock chains was protesting her handling of the case, complaining that the "white and bright" were treated as "more equal than others" in the South African justice system.

There was also public concern when it was revealed last week that Ms. Steenkamp's impoverished parents had been accepting $600 monthly payments from Mr. Pistorius for the past 18 months, and that he had offered a further $38,000 to the family just two weeks before the sentencing.

The prosecutor, Gerrie Nel, said the financial offer was an attempt to influence the sentencing. If so, it failed, and Mr. Pistorius was bundled off to prison, although after 10 months he will have the legal right to apply to serve the rest of his sentence at home.

His uncle, Arnold Pistorius, said the family accepted the judgment, apparently ruling out the option of an appeal. "Oscar will embrace the opportunity to pay back to society," he told journalists in a brief statement near the courthouse.

Mr. Pistorius himself showed no emotion. He gave a tiny wry smile and an almost imperceptible shake of his head as he walked downstairs, briefly grasping the hands of his family members and handing an expensive watch to his uncle for safekeeping, before disappearing under the escort of a police officer.

Ms. Steenkamp's parents said they were satisfied with the prison sentence for their daughter's killer. "It's right," said Reeva's mother, June Steenkamp, a few moments after the sentencing.

Prosecutors are deciding whether to appeal against the murder acquittal, but a spokesman said they were pleased that Mr. Pistorius was given a prison sentence, rather than house arrest.

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