After nearly a decade behind bars, O.J. Simpson could be released from prison this year.
Simpson is set to face a parole hearing this July, according to the Nevada Department of Corrections. His actual hearing date won’t be set until mid-June.
The former NFL star has been serving 33 years in a Nevada prison on burglary and kidnapping charges unrelated to the so-called “trial of the century” that transfixed America following the murder of Simpson’s ex-wife and her friend in 1994.
Simpson was sentenced in 2008 for the burglary, thirteen years to the day that he was famously acquitted of the California murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman. The case has remained open and Simpson cannot be retried for the murders.
Simpson was found liable for the killings in a 1997 civil case.
Simpson was granted parole on some of the charges against him in 2013 for the incident that involved the armed robbery of two sports memorabilia dealers at a Las Vegas hotel room, but he faced at least four more years in prison on sentences that were ordered to run consecutively.
Simpson could be released as early as October, depending on the results of the July hearing, officials have said.
Typically, parole hearings in Nevada come a few months before the official parole date.
Former Chairman Nevada Board of Parole Commissioners Thomas Patton said Monday that the board’s current options were to “grant release on parole, deny parole at this time and reconsider O.J. for parole at a later date, or deny parole and require O.J. to serve the remainder of his final sentence.”
“State law requires that the board consider the severity of the crime and various risk and other factors before deciding whether or not to grant parole,” Patton said in a statement.
“The board members are intelligent professionals and I am confident they will arrive at a very carefully considered decision,” he added. “And unlike some I cannot and have no desire to try to predict the outcome.”
The charges Simpson was granted parole on in 2013 were two kidnapping charges, two robbery charges and burglary with a firearm, according to parole board documents.
