体坛英语新闻：O.J. Simpson released on parole after nine years in prison

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- Former American football star O.J. Simpson, 70, was released on parole at 12:08 a.m. local time on Sunday after serving nearly nine years in prison in U.S state of Nevada.

Nevada Department of Corrections released a 7-second short video of Simpson walking out from the the Lovelock Correctional Center in northern Nevada on it's Facebook page, as well as a picture of him signing his paperwork on the table for release from prison.

In the video and the picture, the former NFL star and actor walked out of the prison by himself, wearing a gray baseball cap, blue jacket and white sneaker. He went directly to the dark night after signing a paper in a office, at that time, nobody was waiting outside of the place.

"It was incident free, nobody followed, it was exactly what we'd hoped we could do for public safety," Brooke Keast, a spokeswoman for the Nevada Department of Corrections, was quoted as saying by Los Angeles Times.

"I do not know where he's going. I didn't want to know, to be honest," she added.

Simpson was picked up by a friend after releasing from the prison.

NBC news channel reported that Simpson could stay in Nevada for days since Florida and California, where he lived in the past, did not receive requests for transfer before his release.

But he ever joked to the four-person parole board who on July 20 voted unanimously to grant him parole, saying "Stay in Nevada? I don't think you guys want me here."

The former star holds many NFL records and is considered one of the greatest running backs in the league's history. He played for the Buffalo Bills from 1969 to 1977 and became the first NFL player to rush for more than 2,000 yards in one season, previously considered unthinkable. He was nicknamed "The Juice" because of his speed and fluid running style.

Simpson married blonde model Nicole Brown after retiring from the NFL and becoming a TV actor. The marriage lasted for seven years, and Simpson was investigated by police for domestic violence several times and pleaded no contest to spousal abuse in 1989.

On June 13, 1994, Brown, 35, and friend Ronald Goldman, 25, a restaurant waiter, were found dead outside Brown's home in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles.

Blood and evidence were found nearby at Simpson's home, and a warrant for his arrest resulted in a nationally-televised standoff where Simpson threatened to kill himself and fled in a Ford Bronco followed by a dozen helicopters and hundreds of police vehicles.

He eventually surrendered but he was acquitted of all charges in the trial.

The 1995 trial was called the most publicized in U.S. history by USA Today. At the time, 78 percent of African Americans thought Simpson was innocent while 63 percent of whites believed that he was the killer.

Simpson was sentenced to prison for a Las Vegas armed robbery and kidnapping conviction in 2008, in which he attempt to take sports memorabilia he claimed belonged to him by using guns in a casino.