After spending close to a decade in prison, O.J. Simpson may be released within a few months.
According to the Nevada Department of Corrections (NDOC), Simpson, 70, is scheduled for a parole hearing in July. An exact date for the hearing hasn’t yet been released. Simpson has been at the Lovelock Correctional Center since 2008, after he was convicted of first degree kidnapping, armed robbery and conspiracy to commit a violent crime.
After nearly a decade behind bars at a prison 90 miles east of Reno, O.J. Simpson gets a parole hearing in July. https://t.co/3hmSKWoU11
— Chris Murray (@MurrayRGJ) May 23, 2017
At his last parole hearing in 2013, Simpson said he regretted his actions and wished he had never went into a Las Vegas hotel room at the Palace Station hotel-casino, where he robbed a man at gunpoint for sports memorabilia. At the time, Simpson said the sports memorabilia had been stolen from him.
“I just wish I never went to that room,” Simpson said at his 2013 parole hearing.
NDOC spokesperson Brooke Keast recently said that she wasn’t aware of any disciplinary incidents on Simpson’s record while in prison, something that’s taken into account when prisoners are up for parole. Keast told USA Today that NDOC is already taking into account that protests will likely happen if Simpson is paroled, and arrangements are being made.
“We will definitely have more staff working, and we’ll have help from local law enforcement. We’ve already discussed things with the sheriff in Pershing County and (Carson City) Sheriff Ken Furlong…For his safety, we can’t open the doors to the public, so we’re doing a live streaming. Whatever the decision the board makes, there’s going to be somebody who isn’t going to like it.”
Keast said that no threats have been made but they are simply taking the proper precautions. She also indicated that Simpson made it clear that he has no interest in immediately talking to media after the parole hearing. Instead, officials plan to hold a news conference in Carson City.
[Feature Photo: AP/Isaac Brekken, Pool]