O.J. Simpson gets his first parole board hearing July 25 in Carson City.
But even if the board grants him relief, he won’t be getting out of the Lovelock Correctional Center anytime soon.
Convicted by a Las Vegas jury in 2008, the National Football League Hall of Fame former player and actor is up for parole after serving the minimum five years on two counts of kidnapping and two counts of robbery. There is no guarantee Simpson will win parole on those counts, which carry a maximum of 15 years.
He already has expired two counts of conspiracy to commit a violent crime, which carried a maximum of four years in prison.
But not until he is paroled from the kidnapping and robbery sentences will he begin serving the four deadly weapon enhancement sentences imposed for those crimes. For those enhancements, Simpson faces another one to six years in prison.
And only after he is paroled or serves out those sentences will Simpson begin serving his final two sentences for assault with a deadly weapon — which carry one and a half to six years in prison.
David Smith of the Parole Board said the minimum still facing Simpson, even if he is granted parole this month, is four more years in prison. The potential prison time he could spend, is a total of 28 more years.
The wild card that could change his fortunes, however, is his petition for a new trial on charges stemming from an incident in a Las Vegas hotel room in which he argues he was just trying to get back some of his personal sports property.
He has petitioned Clark County District Judge Linda Bell for a new trial saying the lawyers who defended him were incompetent, resulting in his conviction. She has not yet issued a ruling in the case.
His supporters also have long argued that he was convicted and sentenced so harshly more because of the fact he was acquitted of murdering his estranged wife and her boyfriend than because of the hotel incident.
Simpson has been held since his conviction in the Lovelock prison 90 miles north of Reno on Interstate 80.
