Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
RUNNING BACK TO FLORIDA?
Granted parole, O.J. Simpson could get his wish to head south as early as October
Disgraced former football star O.J. Simpson told the Nevada parole board Thursday that he plans to return to Florida, a state he called home for several years before being sentenced in 2008 for a Las Vegas hotel heist.
But could the Heisman Trophy winner return to South Florida? It’s where he lived a relatively quiet life in the suburbs. He was known for his love of golfing and eating at chain restaurants such as Hooters.
Simpson, 70, could be released from the Lovelock Correctional Center, 93 miles northeast of Reno, as early as Oct. 1. That’s when he will have
completed the minimum of his 9- to 33-year sentence for armed robbery, stemming from his attempt to retrieve some of his sports memorabilia in 2007.
All four parole commissioners voted for his release after about a half-hour of deliberations. They cited his lack of a prior conviction, the low risk that he might commit another crime, his community support and his release plans, which include moving to Florida.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Simpson said quietly as he buried his head in his chest with relief. As he rose from his seat to return to his prison cell, he exhaled deeply.
On social media and in news reports, people wondered whether “The Juice” — the former star running back at the University of Southern California, No. 1 pick in the 1969 NFL draft and member of the Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers — might come back to South Florida.
In 2000, five years after being acquitted in the 1994 fatal stabbings of his exwife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman in Los Angeles, Simpson moved to Kendall. He bought a four-bedroom, four-bath home at 9450 SW 112th St. for $575,000.
He lived there with his children, Sydney and Justin, who were teenagers and attended the nearby Gulliver Schools in Pinecrest.
During his seven years in South Florida, Simpson couldn’t help but draw attention.
Fans shouted out “Juice” when they spotted him at restaurants. They asked him for photographs near his Kendall neighborhood, between South Dixie Highway and Miami Killian Senior High School.
He also found himself back in the news over several incidents.
In December 2000, Simpson was involved in a traffic dispute with a motorist near his home. A jury acquitted Simpson, who had been accused of reaching into the motorist’s car and pulling off the man’s glasses.
There were 911 calls for domestic incidents involving Simpson’s then-girlfriend, Christie Prody, but no charges were filed.
In 2001, police and federal agents searched Simpson’s home as part of a drugring investigation. No charges were filed.
On July 4, 2002, Simpson was cited for speeding in a powerboat in a manatee zone near downtown Miami.
In 2007, he was arrested on charges including kidnapping and armed robbery of sports memorabilia in the Vegas hotel incident, where he said he was trying to reclaim some of his property. He and five accomplices — two with guns — allegedly stormed a hotel room and seized photos, plaques and signed footballs, some of which never belonged to Simpson, from two sports memorabilia dealers.
While out on bail, Simpson continued residing in Kendall.
In 2008, he was sentenced to the Lovelock Correctional Center, where he was Inmate No. 1027820.
Going into his parole hearing Thursday, the Pro Football Hall of Fame athlete’s chances of winning release were considered good, given similar cases and Simpson’s model behavior behind bars.
While he was in prison, JPMorgan Chase Bank foreclosed on his Kendall house. The property later was purchased by Global Rental E& P, an investment company in Doral, for $513,000 in 2014, according to Miami-Dade Property Appraiser records. Last year, Southern Farms International USA, which has a Weston mailing address, bought the house for $1.2 million.
The 4,148-square-foot home, which has a pool, basketball court and separate guesthouse, has been renovated, according to real estate agent Oscar Ramirez, who listed it seven months ago. The current asking price: $1,299,900.
At the parole hearing, Simpson was asked whether he could stay out of trouble if he were released. He replied that that he had learned a lot from an alternatives-to-violence course he took in prison and that he has always gotten along well with people.
“I had basically spent a conflict-free life,” he said.
After saying he hoped to go to Florida, he jokingly told the board: “I could easily stay in Nevada, but I don’t think you guys want me here.”
The Associated Press and Sun Sentinel researcher Barbara Hijek contributed to this report.