OJ Simpson granted early release from parole in Nevada robbery

O.J. Simpson reacts after learning he was granted parole at Lovelock Correctional Center in Lovelock, Nevada, U.S., July 20, 2017. REUTERS FILE PHOTO

 O.J. Simpson, the former football star and television personality who was tried and acquitted in the 1994 murder of his wife and her friend, won an early release from parole on a Nevada robbery conviction, police said on Tuesday.

Simpson was convicted in 2008 of robbery and kidnapping in a dispute over sports memorabilia at a Las Vegas casino hotel. He served nine years in a Nevada prison, and was released on parole in 2017. 

“Mr. Simpson has been on parole since October 1, 2017, and his parole term would otherwise expire on February 9, 2022,” Nevada State Police spokeswoman Kim Yoko Smith said in a statement.

“A decision to grant early discharge from parole was ratified on December 6, 2021,” she said.

Simpson lives in a gated community in Las Vegas, where he plays golf.

He was acquitted by a jury in 1995 of the slayings of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. In 1997, he lost a civil wrongful death suit and the court awarded a $33.5 million judgment against him.

The Hall of Fame running back also made a name for himself as a popular pitchman and actor. But the image many remember best was Simpson in his white Ford Bronco fleeing in a live, nationally televised police pursuit after the two stabbed and slashed bodies were found in his ex-wife’s Los Angeles home.