O.J. Simpson’s long, twisted journey from All-Pro to inmate is coming to a close.
The Hall of Famer and convicted felon wept tears of joy Thursday after a Nevada parole board opened a hole for his run to freedom after nearly nine years behind bars for a Las Vegas armed robbery.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” an emotional Simpson repeated in a soft voice to the four-judge panel. He could walk free as early as Oct. 1.
The Heisman Trophy-winning halfback dropped his head to compose himself once board chairperson Connie Bisbee weighed in.
“Mr. Simpson, I vote to grant parole,” Bisbee said, assuring his widely anticipated release. The vote was 4-0.
The Juice was last on the loose back in October 2008, when a jury convicted him for trying to reclaim — with the aid of a handgun — some of his old memorabilia from a Vegas hotel room.
Simpson clasped his hands, then waved at his daughter Arnelle as correction officers led him out of the hearing room at the Lovelock Correctional Facility.
Arnelle, who earlier delivered an impassioned call for her father’s release, wiped away tears as Simpson clutched at his heart — feigning chest pains — before disappearing.
His emotions ran the gamut during the 77-minute hearing, with Simpson smiling, grimacing, joking and pleading during a lengthy Q&A with the parole board.
“I thought I did pretty good with people,” declared Inmate No. 1027820. “I basically spent a conflict-free life … I’ve done my time. I’ve done it as well and as respectfully as I think anybody can.”
The parole hearing, 23 years after his arrest in the murder of his ex-wife and her friend, aired live from coast to coast.
The ruling marked the latest, and perhaps the last, in Simpson’s tour of the justice system. Across the last five decades, he’s morphed from football hero to TV pitchman to murder suspect to pariah to inmate.
The hearing started promptly at 10 a.m., with former fashion plate Simpson entering the hearing room in a faded blue prison shirt, blue jeans and a pair of white sneakers.
Simpson, looking slimmer than in recent appearances, was accompanied by attorney Malcolm LaVergne.
Simpson, who once appeared destined to die in prison, now plans to relocate to Florida, home to his daughter Sydney. Simpson, now 70, faced a maximum sentence of 33 years in prison.
Daughter Arnelle, 48, from O.J.’s first marriage, delivered a moving call for her father’s freedom.
“He’s like my best friend and my rock,” she said as her father listened intently. “As a family, we recognize that he’s not the perfect man.
“But he’s clearly a man and a father who has done his best to behave in a way that speaks to his overall nature and character, which is always to be positive.”
While Simpson’s parole conjures tee times in the morning and beach time in the afternoon, he will also return to a multi-million-dollar civil judgment still hanging over his head.
The families of ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman are still owed millions by Simpson after a jury awarded the relatives $33.5 million in their wrongful death suit.
TMZ.com has reported that a newly-released Simpson would become a red-hot reality show commodity — but his profits would theoretically go to the Brown and Goldman families.
Simpson’s old houseguest Kato Kaelin suggested that O.J. might write a book about his experiences.
The board members agreed that Simpson’s lack of a prior conviction, low risk of recidivism and his plans to move back to Florida all factored in his favor.
The parole board also acknowledged receiving hundreds of letters both for and against his parole, with many citing the murders.
But they also assured Simpson that the long-ago case would play no role in the Nevada deliberations.
And no one mentioned allegations raised by Los Angeles prosecutors that Simpson abused Nicole for 17 years prior to the gruesome June 12, 1994, killings outside her Brentwood home.
One of Simpson’s robbery victims, memorabilia dealer Bruce Fromong, reduced his friend O.J. to tears with a heartfelt call for his release.
“If he called me tomorrow and said, ‘Bruce, I’m getting out. Can you pick me up?'” said Fromong. “I’d say, ‘Juice, I’ll be there tomorrow.'”
