Could O.J. Simpson Eventually Find Himself In Nevada's Black Book?

The infamous O.J. Simpson was booted from a casino on the Las Vegas Strip earlier this month, just weeks after he finished serving about nine years in Nevada prison.

Reports of him being kicked out of the Cosmopolitan casino-hotel were confirmed by his lawyer, Malcolm LaVergne, in a statement. “Cosmopolitan exercised its right to issue a trespass notice,” LaVergne told the AP. “Any private property in Nevada has the right to tell any person that you are trespassing and…if you comeback you are subject to a misdemeanor arrest.”

Simpson, who is on parole, passed drug and alcohol tests after the incident, his lawyer said. LaVergne said Simpson wasn’t given a reason for being kicked out.

While it’s at the discretion of the casino to issue a trespass notice without involving the police, Nevada gaming regulators can also get involved. They do have what is called the List of Excluded Persons, also known as the “Black Book,” for individuals deemed harmful to the gaming industry.

According to Karl Bennison, Chief of the Nevada Gaming Control Board’s Enforcement Division, a trespass notice like the one Simpson received doesn’t mean someone is on their way to the list.

“A hotel/casino can exercise its right to trespass for a wide variety of reasons,” Bennison said. “The fact that an individual has been trespassed from a property or multiple properties alone would not be consideration for exclusion.”

Bennison did point out the Nevada gaming regulation that says a person may be added to the decades-old list based on criminal history and whether the person has a “notorious or unsavory reputation.” Regulators don’t want such a person to “adversely affect public confidence and trust that the gaming industry is free from criminal or corruptive elements.”

In addition to his 1990s murder trial, the 70-year-old Simpson was convicted of kidnapping and armed robbery in 2007 at the Palace Station casino. While he isn’t known for gaming-related misconduct, his reputation definitely could be defined as “notorious.”

Nevada’s Black Book, established in the 1960s, currently contains 31 names. The only way off the list is to die, which happened back in May when two individuals were removed. The last person to be added was Bujar “Bruce” Kaloshi in December of last year. Kaloshi was known for marking cards at blackjack tables with invisible ink and using special contact lenses to see the markings.

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