Jury acquits ex-New England Patriots TE Aaron Hernandez in double murder case

Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez was found not guilty on Friday in a 2012 double homicide case.

Jurors ruled Hernandez was not guilty of first-degree murder in the killings of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado shortly after an alleged run-in at a Boston nightclub. He was convicted of unlawful possession of a gun and was sentenced to four to five years in prison.

Hernandez is already serving a life sentence for the 2013 murder of Odin Lloyd, a semi-pro football player who was dating the sister of Hernandez's fiancee.

In Friday's appearance at Suffolk County Superior Court in Boston, Hernandez could be heard weeping as the verdicts were read. A short time later, He looked at his fiancee and mouthed "I love you," while relatives of de Abreu and Furtado cried loudly.

The jury deliberated for six days before delivering the not guilty verdict.

The victims were waiting at a stoplight when a vehicle pulled up alongside then on July 16, 2012. Someone opened fire and shot them to death.

Prosecutors allege that was Hernandez, who was apparently upset and felt disrespected when one of the men bumped into him and spilled his drink inside the nightclub.

Hernandez's defense team said it was Alexander Bradley -- a former close friend of Hernandez -- who shot the duo over a failed drug deal.

Bradley insists Hernandez fired the shots.

Hernandez, 27, played with the Patriots from 2010-12. He signed a five-year, $40 million contract with New England shortly after Furtado and de Abreu was killed.

Hernandez played another season before Lloyd was killed and the Patriots cut him after he was arrested for killing Lloyd in June 2013.