OJ Simpson could be freed from jail, parole hearing set for July 20

Former NFL star running back OJSimpson, convicted of armed robbery and kidnapping in 2008, has a parole hearing scheduled for July 20 and could be freed from a Nevada prison by October 1, AFP reports.

Simpson, who turns 70 on July 9, has been imprisoned at Lovelock Correctional Center in northern Nevada for more than eight years after a 2007 incident at a Las Vegas hotel. Simpson, who said at the time he was trying to retrieve personal sports memorabilia that was stolen from him in the mid-1990s, was sentenced to 33 years behind bars with a minimum of nine years without parole.

The 1970s star rusher for the NFL's Buffalo Bills was acquitted in 1995 in an infamous trial for the 1994 killings of ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman.

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In a 1997 civil court ruling from a wrongful death lawsuit, families of the victims were awarded a $33.5 million judgment against Simpson.

Netflix, Hollywood

Simpson has re-entered the public spotlight in 2016 after Netflix ran the series, "The People v O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story". It was very well-received, nominated for 22 Primetime Emmy Awards across 13 categories. The cast included majot Hollywood actors, like Cuba Gooding Jr and John Travolta.

OJ Simpson himself featured in Hollywood movies, playing the recurring role of Detective Nordberg in the '80s and early '90s slapstick comedytrilogy,The Naked Gun.

(With inputs from AFP)