After being found "not guilty" for double murder in October 1995, O.J. Simpson was convicted for armed robbery and kidnapping in 2008 following a trial for a separate, unrelated case. Now, he's back in the spotlight again with a parole hearing on July 20 after being behind bars for years. But exactly how long is O.J. Simpson's sentence? His charges landed him with anywhere from nine to 33 years in prison. He has currently served over eight of those years.
The case that is being presented before the Nevada parole board has no connection to his 1995 trial for double murder, in which he was acquitted of all charges. If parole is granted, Simpson would be released as early as October 1 of this year.
Simpson's fall from grace was initiated by the death of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman. The two were found stabbed to death outside of Brown's condominium in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles. Simpson's first round of court proceedings, which would later be described as "the trial of the century," was largely controversial and divisive for the American public. The debate over his guilt or innocence has since died down, but that seems to be changing now that he is up for parole. The hashtag, #OJSimpsonParole was already trending on Twitter as of Thursday afternoon.
Since his first "not guilty" plea, Simpson has maintained that he did not kill Brown and Goldman. The families of the victims won a civil lawsuit against him in 1997 with a wrongful death judgement being declared. Following this judgement, Simpson was ordered to pay millions of dollars in damages to the families.
The list of charges that eventually landed Simpson in prison included conspiracy to commit kidnapping and armed robbery. The events leading up to his arrest are a bit unclear. What is known is that Simpson, along with five others, robbed two sports memorabilia dealers at gunpoint inside of a Las Vegas hotel room. Simpson's explanation for the actions, according to NBC News, were to recover his own stolen property of footballs, award plaques, and photos of himself and his children.
During an earlier parole hearing in 2013, Simpson expressed his regret:
I just wish I had never gone to that room. I wish I had just said, "Keep it," and not worry about it. All I can do about it since I've been here is be as respectful and as straightforward as I could be.
As Simpson's most recent parole hearing unfolds, the world waits to see whether or not the 70-year-old will live out the rest of his days in freedom or in jail.
