O.J. Simpson’s request for a parole was granted by the Parole Board on Thursday. He will be released possibly in October after completing nine years of his sentence.
The former football star’s imprisonment was for a Las Vegas hotel heist in 2007. He was convicted in 2008 after an armed robbery that involved two sports memorabilia dealers, who were the victims, inside a Las Vegas hotel room. He is set to serve nine years, which is the minimum of his 33-year sentence, so he might be out of jail by October 1.
His defense team initially claimed that the 33 year-sentence was too much for the crime he did and believed that it was affected by the murder case he was involved in.
Why did the parole board grant his request?
According to ESPN, the four parole commissioners with the board agreed that he has no prior conviction. They also believed that he is a low risk in terms of the possibility of committing another crime. Two other parole commissioners, Ed Gray and Michael Keller, were monitoring the proceedings. They would have casted their votes if the four other commissioners were not able to come up with a unanimous decision.
Before the parole commissioners rendered their decisions, the former football player, tried to convince them by saying that he lived his life in prison with no complaints. He noted that he basically lived a “conflict-free life,” The New York Times reported.
He also talked about the hotel heist noting that he did not know that the people with him were armed. Simpson told the commissioners that the items he took were actually his. The three took hundreds of items but the two did not face conviction because they testified against Simpson.
One of the memorabilia dealers, Bruce Fromong, who was robbed by Simpson and his two accomplices, said that contrary to the reports, Simpson did not point a gun at him.
Fromong said that the former player should be freed to be with his family.
Simpson thanks commissioners, parole terms revealed
After it was revealed that the four commissioners decided unanimously to grant Simpson’s request, he became emotional and said thank you a number of times.
For the parole terms, he could drink alcohol but not excessive.
His blood alcohol content would have to be monitored and it should be .07 or less. The other conditions will be released soon.
Simpson plans to go back to Florida. He says he will spend more time with his kids, his family, and his friends.
