O.J. Simpson released from Nevada prison after serving 9 years of 33-year sentence

After serving nine years of a 33-year sentence at the Lovelock Correctional Center for armed robbery and kidnapping, former NFL running back O.J. Simpson was released from prison early Sunday morning.

What happened?

Simpson was initially arrested for his involvement in a dispute concerning memorabilia at the Palace Station Hotel-Casino in 2007. He said items were stolen from him and went to retrieve them with some of his associates. Simpson’s associates were armed — something Simpson claimed he didn’t know. Simpson was convicted on 12 counts of kidnapping, armed robbery, and assault, and sentenced to 33 years in prison.

Brooke Keast — a spokeswoman for the Nevada Department of Corrections — told CNN that Simpson, 70, was released from prison shortly after midnight Sunday. They scheduled the unusual time of release, Keast says, to avoid a media frenzy. Keast also said an unidentified friend picked Simpson up.

“Our biggest concern was our safety and the public’s safety and not wanting anybody, paparazzi, to follow him,” Keast said. “He left through a big blue door through the front gatehouse and exited quietly. He looked down because he didn’t want to be photographed.”

Keast said Simpson was “upbeat, personable and seemed happy to get on with his life.”

Back in July, a Nevada parole board voted to release Simpson.

What happens next?

Tom Scotto, a friend of Simpson’s, said the former NFL star will not hide once he’s released from prison. Simpson said he has plans to move to Florida in the future. For now, though, he will stay in a gated residence with some friends in a Las Vegas suburb.

“He’s going to focus on kids, friends, his family and golf. Maybe not the first day or second, but he is going to go out,” Scotto said.

Simpson played in the NFL from 1969-1979 with the Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers. In 1994, he was a murder suspect in the killing of Nicole Brown Simpson, his ex-wife, and Ron Goldman, her friend. Simpson went to trial, which many referred to as “the trial of the century.”

Simpson was acquitted in 1995, but the families of both victims filed a wrongful death suit. Simpson had to pay $33.5 million in damages two years after the trial ended.