O.J. Simpson, readying for prison release, receives pushback from Florida attorney general

O.J. Simpson could be freed from prison as soon as this Monday, notwithstanding concerns regarding the disgraced former athlete’s future whereabouts.

A Nevada parole board agreed in July to release Simpson after he served nine years for robbing a Las Vegas collectibles store in 2008, and the former football star and actor officially becomes eligible to be discharged Sunday, October 1, potentially making this weekend his last behind bars.

Simpson’s next move remains a mystery, however, particularly in the light of drawing fire on Friday from Florida’s attorney general.

Simpson, 70, lived in Miami at the time of his 2008 arrest, and his Las Vegas-based attorney, Malcom LaVergne, told ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Friday this his client planned to take up residence there following his release.

“He’s going to Florida,” Mr. LaVergne insisted. “There’s no doubt he’s going to Florida.”

Simpson won’t be calling the Sunshine State home again if Ms. Bondi has her way, and on Friday she urged the Florida Department of Corrections to tell Nevada authorities he isn’t welcomed.

“Floridians are well aware of Mr. Simpson’s background, his wanton disregard for the lives of others, and of his scofflaw attitude with respect to the heinous acts for which he has been found civilly liable. The specter of his residing in comfort in Florida should not be an option,” the attorney general wrote in a letter.

“Our state should not become a country club for this convicted criminal,” she wrote.

Indeed, the Las Vegas robbery was hardly Simpson’s only brush with the law after his professional football career ended in in 1979. He pleaded no contest to spousal abuse a decade later, and was charged in 1994 with murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ron Goldman.

Simpson was acquitted of the slayings the following year, but was found liable for both of their deaths at the conclusion of a 1997 civil trial initiated by the victims’ families.

Simpson’s current stint behind bars relates to a botched robbery targeting a Las Vegas sports-memorabilia dealer. He was convicted of 12 related counts in 2008 and subsequently sentenced to a minimum of nine years in federal prison.

Florida corrections officials previously said they would be required to accept Simpson on account of federal law governing parolee transfers between states, The Tampa Bay Times reported Friday. Ms. Bondi wrote in her letter that Simpson should be monitored with an ankle bracelet if Florida receives and approves a transfer request from Nevada, the newspaper reported.

A Florida correction spokesperson said earlier this week that the state had yet to receive a formal transfer request from Nevada regarding Simpson, according to the newspaper.