Carson City, NV — Although O.J. Simpson won a small victory on Wednesday in his bid for freedom, going home anytime soon is still very unlikely as Nevada granted him parole on some of his 2008 convictions for kidnapping and armed robbery involving the holdup of two sports memorabilia dealers at a Las Vegas hotel room.
However the decision doesn’t mean Simpson will be leaving prison anytime soon. The former NFL star was convicted on multiple charges and still faces at least four more years behind bars on sentences that were ordered to run consecutively.
The Nevada Board of Parole Commissioners released its decision in favor of Simpson’s parole request Wednesday. Commissioners noted Simpson’s “positive institutional record” and his participation in programs addressing “behavior that led to incarceration.”
“We expected it,” Patricia Palm, one of Simpson’s current lawyers, told The Associated Press shortly after the order was issued. “There is no reason not to grant him parole. I’m glad they did what they should have done.”
Palm said Simpson called from prison to let her know of the board’s decision.
“He’s very happy and grateful,” she said.
The parole becomes effective Oct. 2. Then, Simpson will begin serving the minimum term on four concurrent sentences imposed for using a weapon during the 2007 robbery. He will have another parole hearing on those sentences in a year.
After that, he has two more consecutive terms for assault with a deadly weapon, said David Smith, spokesman for the board.
The board noted Simpson had no previous criminal convictions and still has consecutive sentences to serve. Simpson was tried for murder but acquitted in Los Angeles for the 1994 death of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman.
