OJ Simpson granted parole after nearly 9 years in prison

Ex-football star set for October release in robbery case

USA TODAY Sports CARSON CITY, NEV. O.J. Simpson was granted parole Thursday, clearing the way for the former football star and actor to be released from a Nevada prison as soon as Oct. 1.

Simpson, 70, will be a free man for the first time since 2007, when he was arrested for a Las Vegas robbery that led to his being sentenced to a minimum of nine years and a maximum of 33 years.

“I’ve done my time, I’d just like to get back to my family and friends, and believe it or not, I do have some real friends,” Simpson said. “Nine years away from my family, it just wasn’t worth it. I’m sorry.”

Simpson appeared on video conference from the Lovelock Correctional Center about 100 miles from Carson City, where the parole board convened.

He wore standard-issue blue jeans, a light blue button-down shirt, white T-shirt and white sneakers and was seated next to his attorney Malcolm LaVergne. Simpson’s daughter Arnelle Simpson, sister Shirley Baker and close friend Tom Scotto also were in the room.

Connie Bisbee, chairwoman of the parole board, opened the hearing and said Simpson had been classified as “low risk” on the state’s risk assessment form.

The hearing lasted 75 minutes before a break. Bisbee and the three other members of the board returned and each cast their vote in favor of granting Simpson parole. Simpson bowed his head and said, “Thank you.”

As he left the room and headed back inside the prison, a heavy steel door closed behind him, and Simpson clenched his hands and exclaimed: “Oh! God! Oh!”

The hearing, televised live, was the latest chapter in Simpson’s public saga, which began in 1994 when his former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman were found murdered. That triggered an infamous slow-speed chase, with Simpson and his friend Al Cowling in a white Ford Bronco trying to evade police as millions of Americans watched the drama unfold on live TV.

Simpson, eventually turning himself in without further incident, was acquitted of the murders in 1995. However, a civil jury in 1997 found him responsible for the killings and ordered him to pay $33.5 million to the families of Nicole Brown Simpson and Goldman.

Bisbee quickly referenced the 1995 trial during Thursday’s hearing. She said the board had received hundreds of letters, supporting and opposing Simpson’s release, and requesting the board question him about the murders. However, she said the case was not relevant to Thursday’s hearing.

The hearing did cover the 2007 armed robbery in Las Vegas that resulted in Simpson’s incarceration. Simpson and two accomplices held up two sports memorabilia agents who Simpson said were in possession of items that belonged to him.