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O.J. Simpson granted parole, not freed yet

Posted at 11:48 AM, Jul 31, 2013
and last updated 2013-07-31 13:48:51-04
By Amanda Sloane

HLNTV.com

(CNN) — O.J. Simpson was granted parole Wednesday on some charges related to his 2008 armed robbery convictions. But he won’t be freed from prison just yet because his sentences were to be served consecutively. He’ll have to serve at least four more years behind bars.

The Nevada Parole Board said in a statement that it reached its decision based on Simpson’s “institutional conduct, participation in programs, lack of prior conviction history and that he has consecutive sentences yet to serve.”

After the former NFL star’s parole becomes effective on October 2, 2013, he must start serving a 12-month-minimum sentence related to his use of a weapon during the incident. If he’s granted parole on that charge — which carries up to 72 months behind bars — then he has two more sentences to serve that carry a minimum of 18 months each.

Simpson was convicted and sentenced to up to 33 years in prison, with eligibility for parole, on October 5, 2008, for entering a Las Vegas hotel room and collecting sports memorabilia that he said belonged to him. Simpson insisted that no weapons were ever discussed and that he never saw any weapons in the hotel room where he got the items.

Simpson told parole board members last week that his nearly five years in custody “have been somewhat illuminating at times and painful a lot of times.”

“I missed my two younger kids who worked hard getting through high school, I missed their college graduations,” a seemingly emotional Simpson said, via closed-circuit TV from prison. “I missed my sister’s funeral. I missed all the birthdays.”

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