OJ Simpson freed from prison after serving 9 years

LAS VEGAS - Former football legend OJ Simpson became a free man again on Sunday after serving nine years for a botched hotel-room heist in Las Vegas that brought the conviction and prison time he avoided in the killings of his wife and her friend after his 1995 acquittal.

Nevada state prisons spokesperson Brooke Keast told The Associated Press that Simpson was released at 00:08 PDT from Lovelock Correctional Center in northern Nevada. She said she did not know who met Simpson upon his release and didn't know where Simpson was immediately headed in his first hours of freedom.

"I don't have any information on where he's going," said Keast, adding she had no indication where he was immediately on Sunday.

The dead-of-night release from the prison, located about 145km east of Reno, Nevada, was conducted to avoid media attention, Keast said.

"We needed to do this to ensure public safety and to avoid any possible incident," Keast added, speaking by telephone. Restrictions

The 70-year-old Simpson gains his freedom after being granted parole earlier this year. Unlike the last time he went free 22 years ago, he will face restrictions — five years of parole supervision — and he's unlikely to escape public scrutiny as the man who morphed from charismatic football hero, movie star and TV personality into suspected killer and convicted armed robber. Simpson is looking forward to reuniting with his family, eating a steak and some seafood and moving back to Florida, his lawyer said recently.

Simpson also plans to get an iPhone and get reacquainted with technology that was in its infancy when he was sent to prison in 2008.

The Florida Department of Corrections, however, said officials had not received a transfer request or required documents, and the attorney general said the state didn't want him.

"The spectre of his residing in comfort in Florida should not be an option," Attorney General Pam Bondi said. "Our state should not become a country club for this convicted criminal."

Close friend Tom Scotto, who lives in Naples, Florida, has offered to have Simpson live at his house, but he has not responded to messages from The Associated Press in recent days about whether a plan was finalised. Simpson lost his home near Miami to foreclosure in 2012.

Two of Simpson's children, Justin and Sydney, also live in Florida.

He could live at least temporarily in Las Vegas, where a friend let Simpson use his home for five weeks during his robbery trial. His five years of parole supervision could be reduced with credits for good behaviour.

NEWS24