Aaron Hernandez
Former NFL player Aaron Hernandez looked at the prosecutor during his murder trial at the Bristol County Superior Court in Fall River, Massachusetts, March 3, 2015. Reuters

Former New England Patriots star and convicted killer Aaron Hernandez has shown a penchant for manipulation during his time in prison, Sheriff Thomas Hodgson of Bristol County, Massachusetts, told the Associated Press Tuesday. Hernandez has been in jail since the summer of 2013, when he was first arrested in connection with the murder of 27-year-old semi-pro football player Odin Lloyd.

Hernandez used his natural charisma to try convince prison staffers to give him more than his allotted portion of food. Hernandez displayed an ability to “manipulate better than anyone [Hodgson] has ever seen,” the AP reported.

“He would make every effort to get extra sandwiches,” Hodgson said. “He would just try to convince the officers to give him more than what they otherwise could get.”

Hernandez told Bristol County prison staffers the jury who convicted him on first-degree murder April 15 had delivered the wrong verdict, but did not appear overly upset about the outcome, Hodgson added. The former NFL star was reportedly polite during his time in incarceration, though Hodgson said Hernandez does get upset if he senses he’s being treated with disrespect. But the sheriff said Hernandez will likely adjust well to permanent life in prison.

“He doesn’t really look at it as jail,” Hodgson said. “It’s more like training camp,” he said.

Hernandez received an automatic sentence of life in prison without parole last week after he was convicted on first-degree murder and various gun charges. Hernandez and two associates drove Lloyd in July 2013 to an isolated industrial park in North Attleborough, Massachusetts, where Lloyd was shot and killed with a .45-caliber Glock handgun.

The former Patriots tight end will ultimately be transferred to Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center, a maximum-security state prison facility in Shirley, Massachusetts. Hernandez is currently housed at Massachusetts Correctional Institution-Cedar Junction in Walpole, where prison officials reportedly placed him on suicide watch after his conviction.

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