In an effort to get released from prison sooner rather than later where he is serving time for kidnapping and armed robbery, O.J. Simpson was granted parole on some of his convictions on Wednesday, the Associated Press reported. Simpson was convicted for his involvement in the hold up of two sports memorabilia dealers at Las Vegas hotel room in 2007.
The former NFL player and actor still faces at least four more years in prison on sentences that had been ordered to run consecutively.
The Nevada Board of Parole Commissioners reached its decision in favor of Simpson's parole on Wednesday, making note of Simpson's 'positive institutional record' and his participation in programs while in prison.
One of Simpson's lawyers Patricia Palm told the Associated Press that "we expected it. There is no reason not to grant him parole. I'm glad they did what they should have done. [Simpson]'s very happy and grateful."
The parole becomes effective on October 2, and which time Simpson will begin serving the minimum term on four concurrent sentences for using a weapon during the 2007 robbery. His next parole hearing on those sentences will be next year. He also has two more consecutive terms for assault with a deadly weapon, David Smith, a spokesman for the board said.
In a highly publicized trial, Simpson was tried for murder but acquitted in Los Angeles for the 1994 death of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman.
In prison, Simpson has earned reportedly made money while working in the prison gym, for keeping equipment sanitized, and umpiring and coaching games in the prison yard, the Associated Press reported.
"I just wish I never went to that room," Simpson recently said at the hearing last week. He also told the judge he has missed key moments with his family while he has been in prison.
