Las Vegas, Nevada - Former NFL star and actor OJ Simpson was released from parole on Tuesday in Nevada, where he had served nine years of a jail sentence until 2017 for his part in a 2007 armed robbery and kidnapping in Las Vegas.

Simpson (74) had been on parole since October 1, 2017. His parole term would otherwise have expired on February 9 next year, Kim Yoko Smith from the Nevada State Police's Department of Public Safety told dpa.

The former Buffalo Bills running back and several armed accomplices broke into a Las Vegas hotel room and forced two sports memorabilia collectors to give them items that allegedly belonged to Simpson, as well as other sports mementos.

In 2008 he was sentenced to a maximum of 33 years in prison for armed robbery and assault.

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Simpson made headlines during the sensational 1995 "trial of the century" in which he was charged with murdering his ex-wife, Nicole Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman. Simpson was eventually acquitted in the case that touched on everything from racial bias in the US police system to the impact of entertainment and celebrity culture on the legal process.

Opinions are still split on whether he was guilty of the double murder.

A 1997 civil suit brought by Ron Goldman's family ended in a wrongful death verdict and battery verdict. Simpson was ordered to pay $33 million in damages.