OJ Simpson parole hearing set for next week in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- In less than a week, O.J. Simpson will plead for his early release. His accomplices in the Las Vegas robbery that landed him in jail are speaking out about that night. Many of them now say they regret how things played out.

Simpson is trying for a full release after spending years in a Nevada prison convicted of armed robbery and kidnapping.

He landed behind bars after a botched attempt in 2007 to reclaim his personal memorabilia.

"I thought I was confronting friends and retrieving my property. I didn't mean to steal anything from anybody and I didn't know I was doing anything illegal. I'm sorry, I'm sorry for all of it," he said.

Now, some of the men who helped him that night tell ABC News they all have regrets.

"He asked me, would you go with me to be my security. Sure, I'll go with you. Little did I know that it was going to turn into what it did," said Michael McClinton, a friend of Simpson's

Walter Alexander, another friend of Simpson's, added, "And I say, 'So O.J., you know, what if they call the police?' He looked at me and he used a four letter word that starts with ''f' and ends with 'k,' the police what they got to do take me to jail for taking my own stuff.' It was all funny to him."

Simpson was sentenced to up to 33 years in prison. Many felt the tough verdict was really payback for his 1995 acquittal in the brutal slayings of his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ron Goldman.

Simpson's parole hearing will be Thursday, July 20. Click here for the full story from ABC News.

Watch the O.J. Simpson special on ABC News' "20/20" on July 14, 2017 at 10 p.m.

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