OJ Simpson's life in Las Vegas: From criminal conviction to prison to parole

LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — News of the death of O.J. Simpson on Thursday prompted reminiscence and mixed reactions from the Las Vegas community.

Our team has been following a number of developments in Simpson's Nevada life for nearly a decade.

WATCH: Channel 13 recaps Simpson's history in southern Nevada

One of the biggest connections Simpson had to Las Vegas was when he first arrived here in 2017. That was when a parole board granted him early release from prison after his conviction in an armed robbery case over football memorabilia.

That all went down at Palace Station in September 2007. Police arrested Simpson in Las Vegas on several felony charges, including kidnapping and armed robbery.

Surveillance video from inside Palace Station showed Simpson leading a group of armed accomplices to storm a hotel room in what he called an attempt to get back some of his stolen belongings.

Al Beardsley was a Las Vegas memorabilia dealer who at the center of that situation. Back in 2017, his brother told Channel 13 that it was all a scam.

"The whole ordeal at the Palace Station was supposed to put more focus back on him," said Beardsley. "More focus on the book, so he could sell more copies of the book. And it didn't turn out that way."

WATCH: Brother of alleged O.J. Simpson heist victim speaks

In October 2008, Simpson was found guilty of several counts, including robbery and kidnapping. He was sentenced to up to 33 years in prison.

Gabriel Grosso, Simpson's attorney during the Las Vegas case, spoke to Court TV on Thursday saying today "is a sad day".

"I knew O.J. for a brief period of time and he was always a gentleman to me. He was always very friendly. He was always an individual, he was a client. After the case in Las Vegas was over, I sort of left him alone and I didn't become a hanger-on, I guess, like some people want to do. O.J. and I always had a good understanding."

Grosso said he wasn't making any major decisions in the Las Vegas case. He added that he recently digitized files from his career. However, the one case where he kept all of the original paperwork was Simpson's Vegas case.

"The trial, I always thought it could have gone a lot better but certain decisions were made, decisions as to whether O.J. should have testified and things like that, which I thought he should of and spoke to him about but it is what it is. I thought it was, to some extent, payback, the way the jury waited for the same exact anniversary date of O.J.'s acquittal in Los Angeles. I remember that. It had a little bit of that payback aspect to it."

Four other accomplices took plea deals and received probation.

Several accomplices later told ABC News they all have regrets about what happened that night.

"He asked me, would you go with me to be my security. Sure. I'll go with you. Little did I know that it was going to turn into what it did," Michael McClinton said. "Mr. Simpson asked me to show my gun and look menacing. We all barged into the room. The guys in the room were shocked to see Mr. Simpson."

"I say so O.J., you know, what if they call the police? And he looked at me and he used a four-letter word that starts with F and ends with K," Walter Alexander said. "The police? What they going to do? Take me to jail for taking my own stuff?"

In 2010, Simpson's appeal was denied by the Nevada Supreme Court and in July 2013, he asked the Nevada Parole Board for leniency saying he has tried to be a model prisoner. He also apologized.

"I am just sorry that I had to send the State of Nevada legal system through all of this because I know it's not been fun for the people involved," Simpson said during the hearing. "I thought I was confronting friends and retrieving my property. I didn't mean to steal anything from anybody and I didn't know I was doing anything illegal."

RELATED LINK: O.J. Simpson complete parole hearing coverage

He received parole on some convictions but was left with at least four more years to serve.

Channel 13 also spoke to retired guard Jeffrey Felix, who became friends with Simpson while Simpson was in prison. He said behind bars, Simpson was a leader, heading up the prison softball league. He added Simpson got special treatment behind bars.

"He'll go to the front of the clinic line, the front of the canteen line, the front of the culinary line," Felix said. "Everybody knows this."

Then in July 2017, Simpson was granted parole after serving nine years in a northern Nevada prison. The board stated he was low risk.

At the time, Channel 13 spoke to the Jackie Glass, a retired Las Vegas judge who had originally sentenced Simpson for kidnapping and robbery. She told Channel 13 that she was against him being given parole.

"I don't know that he really understands that he did anything wrong," Glass said.

When he was granted parole, Channel 13 also spoke to former Clark County District Attorney David Roger.

"You know, I thought going in that O.J. Simpson has a really good chance at parole but his presentation was terrible," Roger said back in 2017. "It was a violent crime. People could have been hurt here in the hotel, if the other people had started firing rounds through the walls. Everybody knows what the evidence was and his presentation directly contradicts that."

WATCH: Nevada Parole Board grants early parole discharge to O.J. Simpson

Simpson was released on Oct. 1, 2017, the same day as the deadly mass shooting on the Las Vegas Strip that would become known as the 1 October massacre.

In January 2018, Simpson avoids an effort to force him to turn over cash from signing autographs to satisfy the $70 million-plus civil judgment for the killings, according to the Associated Press.

In June 2019, Simpson told the Associated Press that he's happy and healthy in Las Vegas.

In April 2021, Simpson settled a lawsuit claiming The Cosmopolitan's workers defamed him by telling a celebrity news site that he had been banned for being drunk and disruptive. Attorneys for the hotel-casino said his reputation was already too tarnished.

In December 2021, Simpson was granted good behavior credits and discharged from parole.

In May 2023, Simpson announced he was going through chemotherapy after being diagnosed with cancer.

Just a few months ago, Simpson said his health was good and he looked forward to getting on a golf course in "a matter of weeks".

On Thursday, we caught up with David Roger, the former Clark County district attorney who prosecuted Simpson in the Las Vegas memorabilia case. We'll have those comments and more reaction from the community as this story develops.