O.J. Simpson:
Ex-football star is released from Nevada prison.
LAS VEGAS — Former football legend O.J. Simpson became a free man Sunday after serving nine years for a botched hotel room heist that brought prison time he avoided after his 1995 acquittal in the killings of his ex-wife and her friend.
A Nevada parole official said Simpson plans to live at a home in the Las Vegas area for the foreseeable future. State Parole and Probation Capt. Shawn Arruti said Simpson has one approved residential plan, and it doesn’t currently include a move to any other state.
Simpson was released at 12:08 a.m. from Lovelock Correctional Center in northern Nevada, state prisons spokeswoman Brooke Keast said. She said she didn’t know where Simpson was headed, adding that an unidentified driver picked him up.
“I don’t have any information on where he’s going,” said Keast, who watched Simpson in blue jeans, denim jacket and cap sign documents before his release.
Her department released a brief video of Simpson being told to “come on out” by a prison staffer. He responded “OK,” walked through an open door and into the predawn darkness just minutes into the first day a parole board set for his possible release.
Tom Scotto, a Simpson friend who lives in Naples, Fla., said by text message an hour later that he was with Simpson, but did not answer texts asking where they were going or whether members of Simpson’s family were with them. Along with Simpson’s sister and daughter, Scotto had attended the July parole hearing at the same prison where Simpson served his time.
Simpson has said he wanted to move back to Florida, where he lived before his armed robbery conviction in Las Vegas in a September 2007 confrontation with two sports memorabilia dealers.
Though Florida’s attorney general has urged the department to object to Simpson’s return, the department previously has said it would be required to accept a transfer if the request met certain criteria.
Simpson’s attorney, Malcolm LaVergne, and state Parole and Probation Capt. Shawn Arruti, who has been handling Simpson’s case, did not respond to messages Sunday.
LaVergne said recently that Simpson was looking forward to reuniting with his family. Simpson also plans to get an iPhone and get reacquainted with technology that was in its infancy when he was sent to prison in 2008, his attorney said.
Keast said the overnight release from the prison about 90 miles east of Reno was conducted to avoid media attention.
“We needed to do this to ensure public safety and to avoid any possible incident,” Keast added.
The 70-year-old Simpson gains his freedom after being granted parole in July. He faces restrictions during up to five years of parole supervision and is unlikely to escape public scrutiny as the man who morphed from charismatic football hero, movie star and TV personality into suspected killer and convicted armed robber.
Nevada authorities said Simpson cannot use illegal drugs and can drink alcohol only if the amount he drinks is below Nevada’s blood-alcohol limit for driving.
He also is prohibited from associating with felons or anyone who Nevada officials prohibit him contacting. He must tell the state where he’ll be living and when he changes his residence. The conditions apply if Simpson ends up out of state.
Simpson lost his home near Miami to foreclosure in 2012. But two of his children, Justin and Sydney, also live in Florida.
Simpson was tried in the slayings of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman in Los Angeles in 1994. He was acquitted the next year in what was called “the trial of the century.” Two years later, he was found liable in civil court for the killings.