Prison official: OJ Simpson moving toward release in Nevada

In this July 20, 2017, file photo, former NFL football star O.J. Simpson enters for his parole hearing at the Lovelock Correctional Center in Lovelock, Nevada. A Nevada prisons official says a plan is in place for Simpson to be released to parole as early as Monday, Oct. 2, 2017. AP

LAS VEGAS, United States — O.J. Simpson was apparently in transit Saturday, ahead of his release on parole as early as Monday — possibly in Las Vegas, a Nevada prisons official said.

State Department of Corrections public inmate records provided no information about Simpson’s custody status or location, which prisons spokeswoman Brooke Keast said usually indicates that an inmate is being moved in custody. Locations are withheld for security reasons, she said.

“He is still in our custody, at least until (Sunday),” Keast said. “The department is progressing toward his release as soon as possible.”

Simpson’s attorney, Malcolm LaVergne, said he wouldn’t confirm his client’s location. He said that when he last spoke with Simpson, he was still at Lovelock Correctional Center in northern Nevada.

When Simpson arrives at a prison facility, the department’s public website will reflect his location, Keast said.

Nevada Parole and Probation Capt. Shawn Arruti, who is involved in Simpson’s release, did not immediately respond to telephone and email messages.

Keast said this week that plans called for Simpson to be transferred to High Desert State Prison outside Las Vegas to be freed as early as Monday — the first business day after Simpson becomes eligible for parole on Sunday. She said releases normally aren’t handled on weekends.

The former football hero, TV and movie actor, advertising pitchman and celebrity criminal defendant, now 70, has served nine years in prison for a 2007 armed robbery involving two sports memorabilia dealers in a Las Vegas hotel room.

He maintained he led five men into the confrontation to retrieve personal items and family mementoes stolen following his acquittal in 1995 of murder charges in the 1994 slayings of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. He was found civilly liable for the slayings in 1997 and ordered to pay the victims’ families $33.5 million.

Simpson was sentenced in Nevada to up to 33 years, but was granted parole in July. Once released, he’ll be subject to supervision by the state Division of Parole and Probation through September 2022.

High Desert State Prison is located in Indian Springs, about 45 miles northwest of Las Vegas. It is the main processing center for inmates from southern Nevada, where Simpson was convicted.

A close Simpson friend, Tom Scotto, has offered to have Simpson live with him in Naples, Florida. Such a move would require an agreement between parole departments in Nevada and Florida.

Scotto didn’t immediately respond Saturday to messages.

Florida had not received transfer paperwork from Nevada as of Friday, and Florida’s attorney general said this week she doesn’t want prison officials to let Simpson live in the state. /cbb