Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius faces sentencing beginning Monday after being convicted of culpable homicide and acquitted of premeditated murder for the killing of his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

Pistorius is faced with sentences ranging from a suspended sentence and a penalty of up to 15 years in prison after South African Judge Thokozile Masipa decided that he is guilty of culpable homicide or the negligent killing of his former girlfriend.

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Several South African law experts have various predictions on what the Paralympic athlete may be sentenced, in some cited his disability as a major factor on why he would not be sent to jail.

On the other hand, other lawyers believe that he will still be sent to prison because of the gravity of his crime.

"I think that the probabilities are that the judge will send him to prison for a certain period, but not a very long one," human rights lawyer George Bizos explained.

The double amputee was arrested a few days after he shot and killed then-29-year-old Steenkamp on Valentine's Day last year in what had been a heavily televised on-off trial that lasted for several months.

A little more than a month had passed since Judge Masipa ruled that Pistorius 'had no intention to kill' his model girlfriend, the widely known Paralympic athlete is now confronting possible imprisonment after he admitted to firing the shots thinking that he is protecting himself and Steenkamp from a possible intruder at his home in South Africa.

Masipa's decision was based on 37 eyewitness testimonies and evidence, which subsequently ignited debate on whether she had made the right call on acquitting the athlete of murder, thereby saving him from spending a maximum of 25 years in prison before being eligible for parole.

Several law experts agreed with Masipa's ruling and lauded her for going "to the crux of the evidence" while others, especially Steenkamp family's supporters, contended that the 66-year-old judge's interpretation of the law may be wrong citing the lesser murder charge of 'dolus eventualis' also known as the common-law murder.

TagsOscar Pistorius, Reeva Steenkamp, Murder, culpable homicide, South Africa