Jailed ex-NFL star Aaron Hernandez briefly hospitalized: report

[June 23, 2014]  (Reuters) - Former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez, who is in a Massachusetts jail awaiting trial on murder charges, was removed from his cell for a brief hospital visit over the weekend, a local TV station reported on Sunday.

Hernandez was treated for an unspecified medical condition at St. Luke's Hospital in New Bedford, Massachusetts, on Saturday morning, and was gone from the jail for less than an hour, Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson told WBZ-TV, a local CBS affiliate.

Hodgson did not reveal the reason for Hernandez's hospitalization, but said it did not stem from any type of altercation with other inmates or guards at the Bristol County House of Correction, the TV station reported.

After the visit, Hernandez was returned to the jail, which is about 60 miles (97 km) south of Boston, the TV station reported.
 

The former football star, who had a contract worth about $40 million at the time of his arrest last year, is awaiting trial on first-degree murder charges stemming from the death last year of Odin Lloyd, a semi-professional football player.

Hernandez has also been charged with gunning down two men he met at a Boston nightclub in 2012.

Prosecutors have charged that Hernandez grew so enraged when a drink was spilled on him that he tracked down and shot dead Cape Verde nationals Daniel Abreu and Safiro Furtado.

Hernandez has denied all three murders. The Patriots cut ties with the former tight end hours after his arrest on June 26, 2013.

Hodgson did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

(Reporting by Jonathan Kaminsky; Editing by Edith Honan and Eric Walsh)

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