Former NFL star O.J. Simpson is paroled after serving nine years of a 33-year prison sentence. (Image source: NBC screenshot)

Former NFL star O.J. Simpson was granted parole Thursday, after the parole board voted unanimously for his early release.

By the time Simpson is paroled — which is currently set to be Oct. 1 — Simpson will have served nine years of a 33-year sentence for a 2008 conviction of kidnapping and robbery.

Simpson was in prison stemming from charges involving an incident when he and a cohort confronted memorabilia dealers at the Palace Station Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas in September 2007.

The former Heisman Trophy winner was granted parole on some of the armed robbery convictions during a hearing in 2013, but Simpson was still required to serve four years of the sentence after charges stemming from assault with a deadly weapon and other weapons-related charges.

During Simpson’s hearing Thursday, he told the parole board that he lived a “conflict-free life,” and that “I’m not a guy who’s lived a criminal life.”

He said, “I’ve been asked to mediate conflicts in the prison and it gave me tools to use and walk these guys through instead of throwing punches at one another. I always thought I was good with people. Basically, I’ve spent a conflict-free life.”

Simpson ran into legal trouble in 1994 when his wife, Nicole Brown, and a friend, Ron Goldman, were found stabbed to death outside of Brown’s home in Los Angeles.

Simpson was questioned and released, but later charged with the murders of Brown and Goldman. After a lengthy trial that resulted in a not guilty verdict, Simpson avoided being convicted of any crimes related to the deaths of Brown or Goldman. Despite a questionable amount of DNA evidence, investigators deemed that the crime scene may have been contaminated by investigators.

The murders of Brown and Goldman are still unsolved over 20 years after their deaths.

Though Simpson was never convicted of the murders, a suit was brought against Simpson for wrongful death. Four months after the suit was brought against Simpson, the victims’ families were awarded over $30 million dollars in punitive and compensatory damages by a jury, and Simpson was held responsible for the deaths of Brown and Goldman.

See Simpson speak at his hearing in the video below.