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A parole board hearing scheduled for the week beginning July 3 – six days before his 70th birthday – is expected to recommend his release, based on good behaviour. Experts believe the board will vote to release the fallen sports star at the earliest possible date of October 3. It would be nine years to the day after he was sentenced to 33 years for a string of charges, including armed robbery and kidnapping.

GETTY OJ Simpson could walk free this year in an upcoming parole hearing, nine years after being sentenced

He’s the kind of person who gets paroled Daniel Hill

In 1995, Simpson was sensationally cleared of the brutal stabbing murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ron Goldman in the so-called “Trial of the Century”. Yesterday, an ex-business partner who visits him regularly at medium-security Lovelock Correctional Centre in Nevada declared: “He’s convinced he’ll be coming out this fall and is counting down the days to his hearing like a kid waiting for Christmas.” Former American Football hero and NFL Hall of Fame star Simpson – prisoner number 1027820 – has suffered a string of medical setbacks at the remote desert jail, including diabetes and a severe bone infection.

GETTY OJ Simpson was convicted in 2008 after being cleared in 'The Trial of the Century' in 1995

But Simpson, who enjoyed a successful Hollywood acting career in the Naked Gun comedy films after hanging up his boots, is virtually certain to spark fresh outrage when he leaves Lovelock. US magazine Sports Illustrated claims he has amassed a new fortune while sitting in his shared 125sq ft cell thanks to his huge NFL pension, which reportedly pays him almost £20,000 every month. That adds up to £240,000 a year and will amount to a £2.16million fortune by the time of his anticipated release. Under America’s Employee Retirement Income Security Act, the pension cannot be touched by creditors, despite Simpson owing almost £27million.

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That was the then-record damages award set in February 1997 by a civil jury that found him liable for the wrongful deaths of Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman. But the Goldman and Brown families say they have seen a “mere fraction” of their award from the civil case. A source close to the Goldmans said yesterday: “They have vowed to pursue him to the ends of the earth and will continue to do so after he walks out of prison. “His nightmare might be coming to an end, but theirs never will.”

GETTY Though Simpson owes £27million in damages, this money can't be taken from his NFL pension fund

On October 3, 2008, Simpson was found guilty of kidnapping and robbing at gunpoint a sports memorabilia dealer in a Las Vegas hotel room. The dealer had, Simpson claimed, stolen a stash of his personal NFL mementos. To win his freedom, Simpson will need release recommendations from at least four of the seven commissioners at the hearing, which also relies on a complex points system.

GETTY Attorneys feel that Simpson has a good chance of being approved for parole due to good behaviour