LOVELOCK, Nev. — In a unanimous decision, a four-member Nevada parole board granted O.J. Simpson parole on Thursday after the former NFL star apologized for his role in a 2007 armed robbery, said he’d been a model prisoner and promised that he’d have no conflicts if released.
“I’ve done my time,” Simpson who is now 70-years-old said. “I’ve done it as well and as respectfully as I think anyone can.”
Simpson, appearing as inmate No. 1027820, has served nine years of a nine-to-33-year sentence for an armed robbery and kidnapping in Las Vegas. He is expected to be released as early as October and said he plans to move to his home in Florida. His sentence had been scheduled to end Sept. 29, 2022.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” an emotional Simpson said.
He appeared before the parole board hearing from Lovelock Correctional Center via video conferencing.
“I’ve spent nine years making no excuses about anything. I am sorry that things turned out the way they did,” Simpson said in his closing remarks during the hearing. “I had no intent to commit a crime. … I’ve done my time. I’d just like to get back to my family and friends — believe it or not, I do have some real friends — and I tried to be helpful to everybody.”
The hearing was chaired by Connie Bisbee, with Tony Corda, Adam Endel and Susan Jackson also in attendance via video conferencing from Nevada Board of Parole Commissioners headquarters in Carson City, Nevada. Commissioners Ed Gray and Michael Keeler monitored proceedings from Las Vegas and would have weighed in had a unanimous vote not been reached.
The hearing gave the public a rare opportunity to see one of America’s most well-known inmates.
Simpson was acquitted in 1995 in the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman, after a lengthy trial that riveted America. He was found liable for the double homicide in a 1997 civil case.
The robbery case was not connected to the double murder. Simpson still faces a $33 million civil judgment won by the families of the two victims. The Goldman family did not immediately respond to the news. Michael Wright, a representative for the family, said they were still grappling with it.
The “Trial of the Century” captivated the country yet again last year with the release of an Emmy-winning FX miniseries that dramatized the legal saga and an Oscar-winning ESPN documentary that delved into the social issues surrounding it.
AJ Woodson
AJ Woodson is the Editor-In-Chief of Black Westchester and Co-Owner of Urban Soul Media Group, the parent company, Host & Producer of the People Before Politics Radio Show. AJ is a Father, Brother, An Author, Journalism Fellow (Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism), Hip-Hop Artist - one third of the legendary underground rap group JVC FORCE known for the single Strong Island, Radio Personality, Hip-Hop Historian, Documentarian, Activist, Criminal Justice Advocate and Freelance Journalist whose byline has appeared in several print publications and online sites including The Source, Vibe, the Village Voice, Upscale, Sonicnet.com, Launch.com, Rolling Out Newspaper, Daily Challenge Newspaper, Spiritual Minded Magazine, Word Up! Magazine, On The Go Magazine and several others.
