The state of Nevada granted O.J. Simpson parole today, but the disgraced grid great will remain behind bars for the time being.
The Juice was handed a small victory by the Nevada Board of Parole Commissioners, which granted him parole for two counts of kidnapping, two counts of robbery and one count of burglary with a firearm.
But because his sentences were ordered to run consecutively, Simpson still has four more years to serve at Lovelock Correctional Center in northern Nevada.
The parole board cited O.J.’s good behavior behind bars.
“The inmate has participated in programs specific to addressing behavior that led to incarceration,” according to parole chairwoman Connie Bisbee. “The inmate has a positive institutional record.”
Simpson’s lawyer Patricia Palm said she wasn’t surprised by the ruling.
“We expected it,” Palm said. “There is no reason not to grant him parole. I’m glad they did what they should have done.”
Palm said Simpson’s reaction to parole board ruling: “He’s very happy and grateful.”
Even though Simpson will remain locked up, the parole board’s ruling put The Juice on a solid path to getting out in 2017.
“If you were betting man, this being Vegas, I’d say the over-and-under would be a `yes,’ that he’ll be getting out [in 2017],” said veteran Las Vegas criminal defense lawyer Robert Massi.
Simpson’s good friend Tom Scotto wasn’t so optimistic that O.J. would walk free in 2017. Simpson was in Vegas the weekend of the robbery, to attend Scotto’s wedding.
“He’s not gonna get paroled,” said Scotto. “When you’re talking about O.J., the rules change.”
By the time 2017 rolls around, Simpson will be 70 and parole officials will see him as a harmless old man, according to Massi.
“He’s going to be able to go before the [parole] board in four years and he’ll be what, 70 by then?” Massi said. “That age will play a major factor in his favor. That and there were no deaths in this case.”
Simpson appeared before the parole board last week and said he was sorry for robbing two sports memorabilia dealers at the Palace Station Hotel in Las Vegasin 2007.
“I just wish I never went to that room,” said Simpson, 66, best known for beating a double-murder rap involving estranged wife Nicole Brown and her pal Ron Goldman.
Simpson’s potential, more immediate freedom, comes from his bid for a new trial, citing ineffective work by former defense lawyer Yale Galanter.
Simpson appeared before Clark County District Judge Linda Marie Bell in May to argue that Galanter botched his defense with bad and unethical work.
Bell hasn’t ruled yet.
If Simpson is granted a new trial, he could ask for bail. The former Buffalo Bulls great was free on bail following his arrest for holding up memorabilia dealers, Alfred Beardsley and Bruce Fromong.
“O.J. was very hopeful that they’d throw out the case and give him time served,” said Scotto, who spoke to Simpson two weeks ago. “He was talking about what he’s been doing in there. He doesn’t like hearing about what’s happening on the outside because his life is in there.”
Simpson is depressed about being locked up, but is well-liked by fellow inmates, according to Scotto.
“He lives in a pod of five or six cells. When they open up the cells, he’s got a group of guys he plays cards and dominoes with, “Scotto said.
“O.J. is the lead guy over there. He’s O.J. Everybody respects him as O.J. He doesn’t call much when he’s depressed. He can get depressed.”
— with Post Wires