LOVELOCK, NV - Four members of the Nevada Board of Parole convened Thursday to consider the case of Inmate #1027820. The 2-hour parole hearing was routine, save for one boldfaced fact: the inmate is O.J. Simpson.

The parole board commissioners decided of the most infamous men in the nation, imprisoned nearly a decade ago for a bungled Las Vegas robbery, walks out of prison.

But according to two former chairs of the state parole board, the commissioners treated O.J. Simpson, who just turned 70, just like any other potential parolee - notorious as he may be.

"That's really the beauty of the system: It's the same for everyone," said Dorla Salling, who served as chair of the parole board from 2000-2009. "It doesn't matter what your name is."

Simpson was acquitted in 1995 in the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman, after a lengthy trial that riveted America. He was found liable for the killings in a 1997 civil case.

The so-called "Trial of the Century" captivated the country again last year with the release of an Emmy-winning FX miniseries that dramatized the legal saga and an Oscar-winning ESPN documentary that delved into the social issues surrounding it.

Those series may have reignited public fascination with the former football star, but did not likely shade the opinions of Nevada officials at Thursday's hearing, said Thomas Patton, another former chair of the parole board.

Although the board approved Simpson's parole Thursday, the soonest he would be released is October.

Story Date: July 20, 2017