O.J. Simpson has been caught with his hand in the cookie jar — literally.
The former NFL star was nabbed stealing cookies from the cafeteria of the Nevada prison where he’s been sentenced to spend more than three decades for armed robbery. A report said guards noticed O.J. leaving the cafeteria with something hidden underneath his clothes, and when they checked it out found more than a dozen oatmeal cookies.
“Everyone thought he had smuggled in a cell phone or some other kind of contraband, so when the guard started pulling cookies out of O.J.’s shirt, the other inmates started laughing so hard they nearly fell over,” a source told the National Enquirer . “O.J. just stood there with a goofy grin on his face as the guard kept digging inside his shirt and throwing the cookies on the floor.”
It was more than just a light-hearted caper. O.J. Simpson is a severe diabetic, and doctors say he could be dead in months if he doesn’t tighten down his eating habits. The former NFL player turned actor has reportedly ballooned to more than 300 pounds and suffers high blood pressure.
A source close to Simpson says getting his health in order may not be as easy as it seems. O.J. has been trying to diet, but food is one of his only enjoyments in prison.
O.J. Simpson may have a chance to turn his life around if he can keep his health in check long enough. This summer he won an appeal to gain parole on some of his charges, though he is likely to remain in prison for at least four more years.
When he met with the parole board, Simpson has expressed regret for the incident, in which he entered a Las Vegas hotel room with a gun in an attempt to recover sports memorabilia he believed belonged to him.
“I missed my two younger kids who worked hard getting through high school, I missed their college graduation,” Simpson told the board. “I missed my sister’s funeral. I missed all the birthdays.”
O.J. Simpson was also able to avoid punishment for his cookie-stealing incident. The guard who caught Simpson took the stolen cookies away and let him go with a warning.