O.J. Simpson is now "a completely free man," the NFL Hall of Famer’s attorney declared after a Nevada parole board granted him early release, effective Dec. 1, for his 2008 armed robbery conviction, the Associated Press reported. According to CNN, Simpson’s parole was scheduled to end on Feb. 9. However, the Nevada Board of Parole Commissioners held an “early discharge hearing” on Nov. 30, after the board received a letter of recommendation from the Nevada Division of Parole and Probation for his release. The decision to grant early release was ratified on Dec. 6. Simpson served about nine years of a 33-year sentence when the parole board voted unanimously in July 2017 to release him from prison.

A Las Vegas jury had convicted the former Buffalo Bills star running back for leading five men, two of them armed, in a confrontation with two sports collectibles dealers in a Vegas hotel room to retrieve personal items that Simpson said were stolen from him. Simpson, who launched an acting career after retiring from football, will forever be linked to his “Trial of the Century” acquittal in 1995 for the double murder of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman. He was ordered in 1997 to pay $33.5 million in restitution to Goldman’s father Fred Goldman, which he has not payed and is reportedly appealing. Nevada courts now estimate the Goldman family’s claim at more than $58 million, according to Insurancejournal.com.